


Think Fast, Think Twice

by protectchatnoir



Series: Think Fast [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Gen, Memory Loss, Mild Gore, Mild Language, a lot of this is set in a hospital, anxiety and depression again, but this part is focused on recovery, no really it's worse than pt.1, oh ho ho there's a lotta angst, or maybe slightly stronger language in places whoops, the first half focuses on Ladrien
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 16:05:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 25,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13193622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/protectchatnoir/pseuds/protectchatnoir
Summary: Sometimes things get worse before they get better.And Adrien Agreste is getting worse. Much, much worse. He doesn't even remember who he is. He sure doesn't know who Chat Noir is.Marinette is trying; she really is. Things are difficult, but she's coping. Ladybug, however, doesn't know how much longer she can deal on her own.A tale of desperation, and hope - and maybe, just maybe, a light at the end of the tunnel.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One month has passed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well here we are, part two of this fic! *insert manic screaming*
> 
> So I miiiiiiight have mentioned angst in the tags.... yeahhh... maybe...
> 
> Anyways... xD  
> Compared to part one, this is more angsty? I think?  
> A lot of part two is set in a hospital and revolves around psychological trauma and mental issues (resulting from all the stuff that happened in pt.1) so if that kinda things is going to upset you/make you uncomfortable, make sure to consider this here warning and also make sure to read the notes at the beginning of each chapter- that's where I'll warn for the worse stuff  
> And if you have any questions definitely send me an ask on tumboblr, it's totally cool!! :)
> 
> WARNING:  
> As for this chapter, it's not tooooo bad but there are mentions of blood, and there's other stuff going on like anger issues and also psychological issues
> 
> Looooong notes coz it's chapter one but anyway I hope you enjoy! :D

Chapter One 

_'Adrien!' Marinette gasped._

_His clean white shirt which she'd washed the day before was stained dark red, and so where his jeans. The boy's hands trembled as he fell to his knees in the doorway._

_'Marinette!' he wailed. 'I... I've done something bad!'_

_Tears left clean tracks running through the red smears on his cheeks._

_He pulled back his sleeve to reveal the words she'd made such an effort to clean up, now dark and shining with fresh ink._

_Underneath was a line- a single line, or many lines, it was hard to tell- a scribble, a blur, and the black in covered most of his forearm._

_'I've done something_ really _bad.'_

 

 

 

It had been one month since Adrien Agreste had gone to hospital. One long, painful, _dreadful_ month of crying, shouting, talking to therapists. It had, overall, been a blur.

But no amount of therapy could help her.

 

It wasn't _her_ who needed help.

 

And even if she had desperately needed to talk to someone, she wouldn't have been able to. No one could know what was _really_ going on. Not without revealing her identity. 

 

She had Alya, of course. Alya knew. And she'd been more help than any of the therapists, or her parents- who were ones who insisted she saw someone to begin with.

She'd tried to explain. It was _okay_. She was okay. Her parents had come rushing back from Germany as soon as they'd heard, blaming themselves, regretting leaving to begin with. But it wasn't their fault. It was _his_.

 

Hawkmoth.

 

Even _thinking_ his name made Marinette sick to her stomach. And it caused her mind to spiral into a pit of pure _fury_.

Because- how _dare_  he?

How dare he hurt Adrien? How dare he hurt _his own son_?

 

Of course, she didn't know for sure that it _was_ Gabriel Agreste behind all the ridiculousness. But she was almost certain that it was him. And even if Mr. Agreste wasn't some- how had Alya put it- "crazy homicidal maniac man in a butterfly suit". Even if it wasn't him, Gabriel was still very much to blame. Without Gabriel, Adrien wouldn't be in hospital now. He would be safe at home, if his father had tried just a little harder to show his love.

He wouldn't be in hospital with "severe psychological issues"- that's what the doctors told Adrien's friends, and beyond that, they knew nothing. Other than the fact that it "might take some time".

Thinking about that filled her with an angry bitterness. It was so _unfair_. He had been so much safer with _her_. But no, they had to cart him off to the psychiatric unit and stop her from _seeing_ him, as it may "impact his recovery". Because she, Marinette, was a _bad influence_. 

And now people were assuming things. The therapy seemed normal- her friend had been through a lot, and was now in hospital- so perhaps a little counselling, or something, was just routine. But now, _now_ , her parents were beginning to thing _she_ should be locked up in the psychiatric unit as well. Taking it beyond some simple counselling. Taking her to see paediatricians, trying to enroll her in _anger management courses-_

 

She didn't _need_ that. Okay, so maybe she would smash the occasion lamp or vase. And there _was_ the time when she'd kicked Chloe in the chest. But that wasn't her "losing control". That was just because Chloe was annoying. 

And then there was one occasion when she punched Ms. Bitchy Bourgeois in the face, which, admittedly, hadn't been triggered by anything. Chloe was actually being surprisingly considerate that day. But her face had looked as though it would make a nice punching bag. And it wasn't as if she hadn't deserved it. Chloe deserved a lot _worse_ than a simple punch in the face. 

So when she hit Nino, that... that was arguably a little more "concerning".

But he'd been handing out the science worksheets, and when he reached her desk, he _smiled_ at her. Maybe it was a sympathetic smile, a "I hope you're doing okay and I'm here for you" smile (which would have been annoying anyway; she _hated_ it when people acted sympathetic with her- seriously, go be sympathetic towards Adrien, he's the one who needed it) but she interpreted it as just a casual, friendly smile.

 

How could he do that? How could he just smile as if everything was fine while his best friend lay in hospital with "severe psychological issues"? How could he do that?

 

It made her _angry_. But angry wasn't bad. Anger wasn't bad.

 

It made her _stronger- s_ he didn't need help.

 

 

 

 ... Okay, so maybe she had a few unresolved issues to work through.

***

 

They told him it was December. 

 

Which made absolutely no sense at all, because he quite enjoyed Halloween, and he didn't remember that in the slightest. 

When he explained this to them, they told him he'd missed Halloween. He'd been in a coma.

 

Which was odd, because he didn't remember being in a coma at all.

 

He didn't remember many things. In fact, hardly any at all.

He didn't remember doing anything bad, or getting hurt. So why was he in this place? This cold, white place which smelt of disinfectant. They told him he was here to get better. This is a place where people come to get better. That's what they told him.

But he didn't feel unwell in the slightest. When he'd asked what was wrong with him, one of the people who often came to check on him only frowned and noted something down on a clipboard. They all carried clipboards, for some reason.

 

He didn't remember anything beyond the walls of the place he currently resided- the "psychiatric unit" as he'd heard someone call it once. It didn't _feel_ like home. But he couldn't remember what it was like to have a home, and if he did have one, he had no memory of what it looked like.

 

The closest thing to a memory was a lingering scent of baked goods and a trace of perfume, but even after searching his brain for the source of the scents day after day, he could never put his finger on it. It wasn't _his_ home, he was sure of it. But it was a warm place, a safe place, somewhere were things had been okay.

 

But day after day, he could never remember. _He could never remember her name._

Something that began with an L, maybe, or an M. But he could never remember. 

 

Even so, he tried. 

 

He lost track of how many days he'd been there, but to him, it felt like his whole life, so what did it matter? Nothing mattered before he woke up in this room. So he really didn't care.

 

But the one thing that he did care about- the thing that plagued him day and night- was _that girl._ What was her name? It was so incredibly frustrating. 

It had been a while since the day he woke up in bed. They had told him that it was late November back then. They told him he'd been asleep for a few days, but they didn't tell him _why_. And then he stayed in this room, with it's bed and it's little bathroom and it's piano, until they told him it was December. From what he'd gathered, it was something of a hospital. Although he hadn't been in a hospital many times before, he was sure they didn't usually look like this. The piano? It was so random. He didn't remember learning to play, but every day he sat and played it perfectly. Maybe he was just a natural. Maybe the human brain was wired to know how to play? Maybe they'd done something to his brain. Who knew?

And some days people came to talk to him, but he never talked back. And on a couple of rare occasions, somebody took him to the Grounds and walked with him around a small grassy garden. It wasn't particularly entertaining- he'd much rather stay in his room and play the piano. Even though he felt cold and isolated in the room, it was his Home. It was all he knew. No one could hurt him there.

 

Most days people tried to get him to talk, but he didn't want to. And even if he had wanted to, would he have been able to? They asked him questions: what year is it? How many fingers am I holding up? What's seven multiplied by eight? How the hell was he supposed to know?

 

He didn't even know his own name. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah I hope you liked pt.2 chapter one!! Thank y'all for sticking with me this far =^.^=
> 
> Find me on tumblr @protectchatnoir do questions or whatever, and see ya soon! ;)
> 
> (The next few chapters will be up soon but I'm not sure about the schedule yet? I'll probably go back to Mondays n Fridays like before)
> 
> (Also happy holidays! And also, for any of you who watch Voltron, there mayyyy be a fic in the works... ;) which might be up soon but I'm not certain yet, as I don't want to overload myself coz I have like twelve fics on the go rip)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A surprising turn of events.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which Marinette does something good! Yay!  
> (Okie to be fair Mari was tryin to help Adrien as best she could but her decisions were a little... rushed.. and not the best..) xD
> 
> Anyway this one is surprisingly upbeat, but there are mentions of blood and traumatic memories and the like! The mentions of blood is just kinda recapping on stuff that happened in previous chapters, so if you were ok with that it should be ok :)
> 
> Enjoy! (Also happy New Year folks!)

Chapter Two

 

They called him "Adrien".

 

That didn't feel right, though.

He didn't remember being "Adrien" before.

He didn't remember much at all.

 

He didn't have many visitors who weren't doctors, so he didn't expect Her to show up.

 

He couldn't remember what She looked like, so he wasn't certain. But when they told him that someone was here to see him, someone called Ladybug, he knew it was Her. The girl he kept thinking of. Another name lingered in a part of his mind which he couldn't reach, and whether it was the same person or not, he couldn't say. But he tried to forget the other name, just for a little while. 

 

When she arrived, he was playing piano. He was playing a complicated piece which he didn't know the name of, but the way his hands moved up and down the keys made sense. It felt natural. He didn't talk to her. He just kept playing. She came in and sat down on the white plastic chair which was always beside his bed.

He felt people watching them. There was only a small window in his room, looking out onto a bright white cold corridor. Everything in this place was bright and white and cold. He glanced over his shoulder to the window, confirming that there were indeed two doctors standing outside, presumably making sure he didn't try to kill her. She was his first visitor from Outside, after all.

 

She didn't say a thing at first. Just kept staring at his hands.

 

And then she broke the silence, and his hands faltered, and he stopped playing.

 

'Adrien...' she said. 'Where is your ring?'

 

He stared down at his fingers. What was she talking about? How should he answer? He didn't want to speak, so he just shrugged. 

The girl- Ladybug- nodded. Cleared her throat.

 

'So, um, how have you been?'

 

Before he could think about it, he felt the words slipping from his mouth.

 

'Just fine, Bugaboo.'

 

His hand flew to his mouth in shock. He had no idea what he'd just said, or why, or what it had meant. But his voice had sounded wobbly and strange and unnatural and he didn't like that, so he went back to playing piano. That felt right.

 

She didn't speak for a little while after that. She seemed a little startled. And that's when he started to Remember. Because ghosts are the ones who did the startling. So how could a ghost be startled? _I expected ghosts to look less corporeal_. The memories were fleeting and they didn't make any sense whatsoever, and he didn't want to speak- but he was so confused and desperately needed answiers, so he tried to talk again.

 

'Didn't I... hurt you? Or... there was writing on my arm, and a cave...'

 

His hands flew across the keys, not missing a single beat.

 

'I don't...'

 

Speaking was proving to be rather exhausting.

 

'I don't remember a lot. But I think- no, that was M... M... The other girl. Ma... And you were there as well, but it was her who I hurt.'

 

He lowered his head and kept playing, feeling suddenly scared and vulnerable after saying more than he'd said for as long as he could remember. He wasn't even sure why he knew how to talk, but apparently he did. Still, his voice sounded strange and unfamiliar.

 

Ladybug, as they called her, looked strange. She wore red clothes, bright red, and everyone else he'd seen wore white or light blue, but no, not her, she had red, red, red like the blood, he remembered the blood, on the classroom floor, asking for Marinette's help- Marinette! That was her name, the other girl- but all he saw was red, red, red, and suddenly he was screaming and he didn't know why, and people were coming into his room and things were happening and suddenly it was all over and she was gone, and so was everyone else, he was on his own again, slowly shutting his mouth to stop the screaming and his eyes to block out the red, but he still saw it underneath. 

And all the while his bare hands flawlessly played the piece of music, the name of which he couldn't remember for the life of him.

 

***

 

The first time she visited Adrien was not a success, to say the least. It had ended in very literal (and very loud) screaming.

 

So had the second visit, for that matter.

 

The third ran a little more smoothly. They wouldn't let her visit him as Marinette, because apparently she would impact his recovery- but seeing as Ladybug was basically famous, the doctors looking after Adrien decided her visits could be beneficial. However, they were always supervised by a couple of doctors positioned outside the window.

Since the first visit, Marinette managed convinced her parents that she was truly fine, and didn't need any therapy or anything else of the sort. They were sceptical, but she made an effort not to punch anyone or break anything and after a week or so, they decided she would be okay. 

And then she started visiting Adrien more. The second time was quite similar to the first, except this time he said nothing at all, other than the incoherent screaming which brought the session to an end.

 

But the third visit went okay.

As soon as she entered the room, she was greeted with a different piece of elaborate piano music, and he quietly asked if she was doing okay. And she had nodded, a little taken aback, and sat down in the same old white plastic chair.

 

'Are.. are you okay?' she enquired. 

 

Adrien sighed, and sounding a bit uncertain, he replied, 'I think so. I... I remembered a few things.'

He gave a shy smile and ducked his head down whilst she moved the chair a few inches closer.

 

'Oh, really? That's good! Do you.. want to talk about what you remembered?'

 

His hands kept on gliding absent mindedly across the piano as he nodded.

'Well, if that's okay. I was... going to tell you last time, but I...'

 

She winced at his bringing up of their last meeting. 

 

'I'm sorry, by the way.' Hands still playing a perfect melody. 'About screaming, that is. It's just, your suit is... very red. I've been finding that colour a little bit... upsetting. It reminded me of...'

Adrien shook his head, as if to clear it if the bad memories. Marinette nodded. It was understandable, seeing as he had been completely covered in blood, and even if he didn't fully remember that day, it had probably imprinted itself in his mind somehow.

 

'The people here have been doing colour tests with me, actually. They show me colours, and I talk about them a bit. Sometimes the colours help me remember things.'

 

She was honestly surprised about how far Adrien had come since she'd visited him just over a week ago. His voice was mostly the same as it used to be, and yet somehow sounded more careful and articulate than it ever had before. He spoke slowly and softly, enunciating every word, and his voice was generally soothing to listen to. It made a nice change from his screaming, anyway.

 

'So when you were here last time- and the time before- the red made me remember a time before I came here. Which is strange, because I don't remember a lot from back then. But anyway, I remembered...' -he winced- 'being at my school, in a classroom, and there was blood on my hands. The thing is, I don't really know the rest of it, so it was quite scary. Hence the, ah, screaming.'

He gave a light chuckle, and switched from the piece he was playing to a simple scale.

 

'Yeah, no, I, uh, I get it. It's cool. So, uh, you've been.. remembering stuff? That's really great.'

 

Adrien smiled, nodding slightly. 

'It is. They do other things with me too, like playing certain music or giving me certain food.'

 

'Wow, really? That sounds.. interesting.'

 

'Yes. You see, the oddest thing happened yesterday.'

 

'Mm?'

 

'They gave me camembert. I didn't eat it- I can't stand the stuff. But the smell reminded me of something. Or someone, maybe. My heart keeps telling me that it's a cat, and yet I'm certain I never owned one.'

He laughed. 'Peculiar, isn't it?'

 

Marinette hummed in agreement. It was strange to hear Adrien speak like this- whilst his voice remained the same underneath, somehow he just sounded much more well-spoken. Well, they were practically retraining him to speak, so it.. kind of made sense.

 

'And they played me a piece of music- I can't remember the name of the song, but I have definitely heard it before. At a school dance, perhaps. I remember dancing to it with a very close friend of mine.'

 

She raised her head to meet his eyes.

'Oh, really? Do you know who it was?'

 

'Her name is Marinette.'

 

Her heart leapt at the way his face softened whilst saying her name.

 

'She's amazing. I haven't seen her for a while-'

 

Oh, if only he knew-

 

'but I care about her a lot. She looked out for me before I came here, I think. Marinette means a lot to me.' 

 

He began humming a little melody as he experimented with different chords on the piano.

 

'She, uh, sounds great.'

 

'Oh, she is!' Adrien agreed, beaming up at her.

'I wish I could see her. I had other friends, too, but for some reason it's her I keep thinking about. I mean, I think about her a lot, and what I would say to her.. but honestly, I think I'd just get tongue tied. I'm not so good at talking to people.'

 

She felt herself choking on her own breath and cough loudly.

' _What_?! Um, I mean, what do you mean you're not good at talking to people? You sound very.. uh, eloquent to me.'

 

He smiled with a slight blush.

'Thank you. I actually feel really confident talking to you. Which... I probably didn't show very well during your last two visits. But when you came the first time, you were actually the first person I'd spoken to since I arrived. And then afterwards, I began talking to the doctors a little more, and I've been practicing saying words all week, because at first my voice sounded wobbly and.. ah, since then it's been so much easier. Talking to you is really helping.'

 

His face was lit up with a bright smile now, and he lifted his hands from the piano, resting them in his lap instead.

'I'd love it if you could maybe... keep visiting?'

 

'Oh! Sure, I'd love to, I mean, I'm super glad that if I'm helping you- wait, that didn't make sense.. I meant, I'm super glad I'm helping you. Ugh, I'm sorry, sometimes I just mess up sentences.'

 

Adrien laughed slightly.

 

'What I mean to say is, I'd love to keep visiting, and I'm glad that it's helping you. Hey, I nearly forgot, but I actually brought you something.' She reached inside the plain tote bag she'd brought along and pulled out a book, then reached over to hand it to him.

 

'Here. It has, uh, songs to play on piano. I checked with the doctors first and they said it was fine for you to have, so... you probably know a few of the songs already, you're amazing at piano! But I figured it would be fun to learn any of the ones you don't know.'

 

The blonde-haired boy grinned, and flicked through the book.

'Thank you! This is fantastic. I really appreciate it.'

 

'No problem! So, um, I should be going now. But, is it okay if I come back tomorrow?'

 

He smiled and nodded.

'Yes. Yes, I'd like that.'

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T_T I'm so proud of him
> 
> I hope you liked it!
> 
> Any comments/feedback is super awesome, and you can find me on tumblr @protectchatnoir! 
> 
> Have a very amazing week ;D


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It snows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey folks! Sorry about the late update.. I've been trying to figure out how to approach a posting schedule but it's been so busy that I've not figured it out yet! xD 
> 
> So this chapter is a little more lighthearted i guess, but still in the hospital so read with caution. Like lots of mentions of doctors and medication and stuff.
> 
> Enjoy! :)

 

Chapter Three

 

Marinette went to see Adrien again the next day, still dressed as Ladybug. They had talked for almost an hour after school before she'd headed home; as far as her parents knew, she'd been at Alya's house, studying for a test. Of course, Marinette had used this excuse before, but now Alya could cover for her seeing as she knew her secret identity.

 

And the next day she had gone to see him again. It was particularly cold that day and it had started snowing as she walked to the hospital from school.

   When she arrived in Adrien's room he was lying in bed this time, which was a little unusual as he was usually playing piano. The book she'd bought him rested on the piano's stand, a few pages folded down at the corners, presumably the songs he liked best. Marinette smiled to herself as she entered the room quietly and sat in the chair between his bed and the piano. 

  Adrien's eyelids were closed but fluttered open as she sat down. When he saw it was her, a smile lit his face up.

'Hi!' he murmured sleepily. 

 

His enthusiastic but sleepy tone was enough to bring a smile to Marinette's own face, and she replied with a quiet, 'Hey. I didn't wake you up, did I?'

 

He shook his head. 

'No, they just gave me some medicine which can sometimes make me sleepy, so I wanted to lay down and rest. I'm glad you're here, Ladybug, I want to talk to you about something!'

 

She turned the chair to face him better and rested her elbows on the bed.

'Yeah?'

 

Adrien reached over to the bedside table to pick up a piece of paper. He passed it to her; I was a photograph. Their class photo. 

'Look! That's me!'

 

She chuckled at the enthusiasm in his voice.

 

He began pointing to their classmates in turn.

'That's Alix, that's Sabrina, that's Ivan, that's Juleka, that's Nino (he's a good friend of mine), Kim, Max, Rose, there's Mylène, and Alya, Chloé, and that's Nathanaël, and that's Marinette. She's the girl I was telling you about the other day.'

 

'Wow, that's awesome. Have any of these people come to see you?'

 

Sadness flashed over Adrien's face before his smile returned, though considerably less bright.

'No, I.. I think maybe they want to, but my father won't allow it. I don't know a lot about him- see, I'm starting to remember things about my friends and classmates, but with him, I just don't remember. But I'm getting the impression that he isn't very nice.'

 

'Oh. I, um, I'm sorry to hear that.'

 

'Yeah. Hey, do you know anything about him? My dad?'

 

Marinette nodded slowly.

'He's a fashion designer, I think, and he's quite famous. Most people have heard of him. He's, uh, on the... television a lot.'

 

She was very careful with the words she used, as the doctors had warned her on her first visit not to speak of his dad too much. His father who had been on the television a lot lately, but for a very different reason. Partially because his only son was in hospital. But mostly because Gabriel Agreste was admitted to hospital on the same day as his son was, after said son tried to murder him.

 

***

 

'So I've heard,' he muttered. 'Honestly, I don't think he even cares about me. He hasn't come to see me, he won't let my friends visit me- even after my doctors said that social interactions would be good for me. It's not _fair_.'

 

Ladybug looked as if she agreed, but lowered her head and said nothing. They sat in silence for a moment before she cleared her throat.

'So, um, have you seen the snow?'

 

He shook his head. 

'No. I only have one window and it looks out on to the corridor. It's snowing?'

 

'Yep. Well, _that's_ no good. Hang on, I'll be back in a minute.' 

The red-clothed girl got to her feet and left the room. She was back in less than ten minutes with a duffel bag which she dumped on the end of his bed.

'Come on, we're going outside,' Ladybug declared.

 

'What? I can't do that.. I've only been out two or three times and I don't think I'm allowed-'

 

'Don't worry, Adrien. I checked with your doctors, they say it's fine. Look what they gave me!' She pulled a fluffy winter coat from the duffel bag and slipped it on over her suit, then pulled another out and thrust it at him.

 

'Here. Now we can stay warm! We also have gloves and scarves and hats.' Ladybug took those out of the bag and handed them to him, taking some for herself as well. She wrapped the scarf round her neck and zipped up the coat before pulling on the hat and gloves.

 

He stared at her in disbelief.

'We're... we're really going outside?'

 

The superhero nodded and moved to the side of the bed to help him up.

'Here,' she whispered, helping him pull the thick coat over his hospital gown. He put the other winter garments on himself and zipped the coat up.

 

'We can't stay out too long,' Ladybug said. 'But we can have a little while. Oh, I forgot-'

She reached into the bag to grab the last thing in there- a pair of thick socks.

 

'There. They left some boots outside your door.'

 

He yanked the socks on, eager to get outside. It was exciting, seeing as he'd only been out a few times in the past month. They told him it was good to get fresh air, but most of the time he didn't feel like it. But today was different. Today, it was snowing.

 

And the snow was magical. He and Ladybug stood in the usually green garden area, staring at the sky as thousands of swirling snowflakes came spiralling to the ground. It settled there quickly, the ground already covered in a thin white blanket, growing thicker by the minute as more snow fell. Watching the sky was amazing, unlike anything else. The sky was a greyish white and the flakes were _everywhere_. It was just wonderful. He laughed with glee and spun on the spot, trying to catch the bigger flakes, twirling around and watching as the snow stuck to their clothes and coated the floor. It was enough to allow him to forget about the pair of doctors who lurked at the edge of the garden, making sure he didn't try anything. 

 

It was cold, but he didn't mind.

 

It was perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Chapter four should be out soon, that's a fun chapter xD
> 
> I'm protectchatnoir on tumblr if ya wanna find me there
> 
> So yea from thus chapter really it's were the information about Adrien being akumatized starts to unfold   
> Coz I can't just tell you I'm too mean xD
> 
> ...sorry


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get weirder. And maybe better. But maybe worse?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If that's possible 
> 
> This chapters fun I guess
> 
> Might mess with ur head a bit idk xD it's pretty.. deep
> 
> Also sorry I've not been posting :( the motivation has been a little low, I'm afraid  
> Either way, I hope you enjoy this chapter :)
> 
> **in which there is yelling and swearing**

Chapter Four

 

They were only out for ten minutes, but it was the best ten minutes of his life- or at least the best ten minutes that he could remember. 

When Ladybug had told him it was time to go in, he moved forwards to hug her and say thank you for the time they'd spent together. 

Later on, while he lay alone in his room, he realised that was the most physical contact he'd had with someone for a long time.

~

In the morning, his father came to visit.

It was... unexpected, to say the least. 

 

There was nothing so remarkable about the man, and he wondered why people seemed to respect him so much. He wore a posh suit and expensive looking shoes, and one of his arms was in a sling, which was odd. 

From what he'd heard, this man- his father- was looked up to in many ways.But he didn't seem particularly impressive. 

His father walked silently into the room whilst he sat in his usual seat at the piano. They called him Gabriel Agreste, which made him wonder if that- Agreste- was his last name as well. It sounded kind of familiar. His dad, however, seemed a complete stranger to him. Such a stranger, in fact, that it frightened him a little. He didn't let it show, though; just kept playing his piano as the silence built something of a wall between them.

 

Had he ever loved this man? This unusally cold man? It was hard to comprehend, but he felt inexplicable negative vibes from this stranger who they called his father.

 

Mr. Agreste- and that's how he thought of him, because how could he possibly label him as his "father"?- stayed standing, cleared his throat, and began speaking.

 

'Adrien. I came to visit you.'

 

He had intended to keep his head low, keep playing and keep quiet. But just hearing Mr. Agreste speak was enough to send a surge of anger through his veins. He stood up, placed his hands flat on the keys so they produced a series of discordant, tuneless notes, and looked him dead in the eye.

 

'Really? Did you really? I wouldn't have guessed. You think I'm stupid, don't you? No. You're wrong, you've got it all wrong. You call yourself my father? I don't _know_ you. I don't even recognise your face and you dare to come crawling here after more than a month- after paying extra for a private room with an en suite and a piano- to "visit" me? Let me tell you something. You may be rich, _Gabriel_ , but money can't buy you everything. It can't buy you a _soul_ , now, can it? And you know what I think? I think you're a fucking soulless _coward_ , leaving your son- _your only son_ \- to rot in this hell hole. Well, let me tell you something. I don't know who you are, but you are not my father. I am not your son.'

 

Satisfied with the look of disbelief on the man's face, he sat back down go continue playing his song. 

'Oh, and one more thing:' he added, 'I don't know who _Adrien_ is. He's _gone_. For good, and you're just going to have to deal with it. Bitch.'

 

And with that, Gabriel Agreste walked from the room without a word.

 

***

 

'Marinette, can I talk to you?'

 

She glanced up from her homework at the kwami who hovered above the desk in front of her. Sighing, she placed her pen on the desk and nodded.

'Sure, Tikki, what's up?'

 

'I know that, since Adrien went into hospital, you've been... struggling. I've tried to give you space, but there is a matter that I need to talk about with you, and it just can't wait any longer.'

 

The bluenette sighed again. This was going to be fun.

'Okay. I'm listening.'

 

'Good. When you put on Adrien's miraculous-'

Mari huffed loudly.

 

'When you put the ring on, it... it's power corrupted you a little.'

 

'Yeah, for like, five minutes! What does this have to do with anything?'

 

'The power doesn't just vanish, Marinette! It binds itself to you, in a way. Imprints on your source energy.'

 

'Source whatnow?'

 

Tikki rolled her eyes.

'Okay, let me explain. Everything in the universe is made up of energy. This energy, which is the source of everything, is called source energy. It's sometimes personified as Mother Nature, and things like that. A lot of different beliefs and religions actually branch from source energy- it's the inexplicable force which creates everything, controls everything- it's rather fascinating, when you-'

 

Marinette was trying to look interested, but apparently her boredom was showing through, because the kwami sighed and continued:

 

'Anyway. This energy is like a web. A movement in the web can disturb the entire path of energy- like a ripple in a pond. This is where you come in.'

 

'I'm a ripple?'

 

'Uhh... sure, let's... let's go with that. So, the cat miraculous contains a lot of power- destructive power, to be precise. But that power didn't start off as a negative substance. It was just source energy. That energy, split between the ladybug and the cat miraculous, became the power of creation and the power of destruction. They balance each other out, so no harm is done to the web.'

 

'Ohh. Okay. So, it's like we learnt in chemistry- an atom has an equal number of electrons, which are negative, and protons, which are positive- so overall it's neutral.'

 

'Exactly!' Tikki beamed, pleased Marinette was understanding. 'So everything's neutral and balanced, just as it should be. But! Only chosen ladybugs and black cats can safely wield the power of their miraculous. When you put the ring on, seeing as you're not a chosen black cat, the energy knew it didn't belong with you're body. So it tried to get out. But for the power to get out of the ring, it had to go through you. Energy can't just disappear- it has to go somewhere. So it went inside of you.'

 

'Whoa. That's... confusing.'

 

'I know. See, when the ring is activated, it's power goes into the holder- it goes into the source energy inside of them. The ring's power went inside you, just not it the way it's supposed to, as you're not a chosen.'

 

'Ookay? So, you're saying that the destructive energy like... went into me? But where is it now?'

 

The kwami sighed. 'Marinette, the ring's energy is still inside of you. It imprinted itself into your energy, and now it's stuck. Like a leech. Remember when Master Fu disabled the Cataclysm for Adrien's safety? Well, he didn't. He didn't have to. The destructive energy wasn't in the ring anymore, it was in you. And it still is. It still allows Adrien to transform, but not to use his power.'

 

Marinette felt herself beginning to hyperventilate. 'Tikki. Are you... are you saying that the Cataclysm power is _inside_ me? Like, in my soul? For the past _month?!'_

 

'Not in your soul, in your source energy.'

 

'I'm a ripple in a pond-web of energy and Cataclysm is in me?!'

 

'Marinette, please try to calm down. It's not the end of the world.'

 

'It totally is!! Look at me Tikki, I'm made up of atoms and destructive pond-web energy! Wait... if Cataclysm is inside of me, how am I not destroying everything I touch?'

 

'Because you aren't wearing the ring anymore. If you'd activated the ring, you might have the full power. But since you took it off so quickly, it's only an imprint, so the energy only manifests itself in negative emotions such as strong anger.'

 

'Anger...' she murmured. 'Oh. Ohhhh. Ohohoh. Oh. _Oh_. I thought that was just because I was worried for Adrien..'

 

'Listen, Marinette. I need to know that you've understood all of this. Do you have any questions?'

 

'Yeah. Master Fu said he was disabling the ring. But.. he never did that? He lied to me- the ring was already iffy?!'

 

'He lied to protect you. Try not to get hung up about it! Anything else?'

 

_'How do I get it out?!'_

 

'It's... it's an _imprint_ , Marinette. It will likely stay for... for awhile.'

 

 _'What?!_ But what about when Adrien needs to Cataclysm something?'

 

'In time, the ring will regain it's power, and your negative emotions will ease as they grow accustomed to your body. But even if the ring does regain it's full power, I don't think Adrien will be using it any time soon. Marinette... from what you've told me of your visits with him, Adrien doesn't even remember that he's Chat Noir. You said you asked about his ring, and he didn't seem to understand? His memories are still coming back, but he may... he may never remember.'

 

'But... all our time fighting together..?'

 

'Maybe one day he will remember everything, Marinette. But you don't need to worry about that at the moment. You need to focus on our real problem.'

 

' _Real_ problem? What, other than Adrien not remembering stuff and me having dark dangerous magic stuff in me?'

 

'Yes. I... need to tell you something.'

 

Marinette groaned. 'Okay, but please tell me it's not complicated, because my brain hurts.'

 

'No, no, it's... it's quite simple.'

 

'What?'

 

'Hawkmoth has the cat miraculous.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg my aesthetic is adrien calling gabriel 'bitch'
> 
> Hope you liked it! Comments are seriously appreciated, I love hearing what you guys think!  
> Also a huuuuge thank you because TFAF (pt 1 of this series) got to 5,000 hits today! :D 
> 
> @protectchatnoir on tumblr if you wanna check that out 
> 
> See you soon :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little glimpse at Alya and Nino's lives during the chaos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Welcome to chapter five!! :D
> 
> This one isn't big plotwise, but it's just a lil teeny bit of DJWifi amidst the crazy angst =^.^=  
> So I hope you enjoy this chapter! ;)
> 
> **mentions of blood & injuries**

Chapter Five

 

Alya walked into the quiet classroom; it was early, and classes wouldn't start for at least another twenty minutes. Upon seeing that Marinette hadn't arrived yet- which wasn't a surprise, as she was usually late- the brunette slid into the seat next to Nino, where Adrien usually went. His head rested on his hands. Alya nudged his arm.

 

'Hey,' she whispered, careful not to disturb the few other students who were doing homework. 'How's it going?'

 

Nino groaned. 'Tired,' he muttered. 

 

'I know,' she replied, resting her head on his shoulder with a sigh. The two had both been extraordinarily stressed out for the past two months, starting when Adrien had first gone into hospital. After that, everything went downhill. First Adrien started to act weird- always looking scared or confused, or just generally seeming off. And then he went missing, which had left the two friends absolutely terrified for his safety. When Marinette hadn't shown up for school for a few days, it had massively worried Alya. And then the day she'd gone to her house to yell at her... which ended, of course, in Alya finding out her best friend's secret identity. 

 

_Marinette was Ladybug._

 

Nino and Alya had spent a large amount of time at each other's houses, playing video games or watching movies, but more regularly just sitting in Alya's or Nino's bedroom talking about everything that was going on.

They'd grown a lot closer in the past two months. 

And talking about it all helped- it really did. But Alya couldn't tell Nino about the one thing that was really bothering her, which was Marinette's double life as Ladybug. She couldn't betray her best friend's trust by revealing her secret, so she kept quiet about it, even though it felt like a bit of a burden.

One time in class Alya had almost asked Marinette how her visit with Adrien had gone, which would have been a disaster- because, as far as everyone else knew, Ladybug was the only one visiting the boy in hospital. Not Marinette. 

 

'I went to the hospital yesterday.'

 

Alya snapped herself out of her thoughts. 'What?!'

 

'I went to see Adrien. They wouldn't let me. You know who I did see though?'

 

'Hm?'

 

_'Gabriel Agreste.'_

 

Her eyebrows shot up. 'You're _joking_. He went to see Adrien? I thought no one had been in other than Ma- Ladybug!'

 

Nino gave her a quizzical look. 'Did... you just call her "ma Ladybug"?'

 

'Um.. yep! Ma Ladybug! Ma... ma bro. Ladybug. Ma gal.' She giggled nervously, but Nino only laughed and shrugged it off.

 

'So anyways, Mr. sorry-excuse-for-a-father Agreste apparently went to see his son. Which is really weird. From what I've heard, Adrien's totally out of it. He can't remember a whole lot.' He sighed sadly. 'He probably doesn't remember me.'

 

Despite knowing she couldn't, Alya desperately wanted to reassure Nino that his friend hadn't forgotten him- Marinette told her how Adrien had spoken about his friends and shown her a class photo. But she couldn't say anything- it would be impossible to explain how she could know something like that. So she did the next best thing she could- trying to convince Nino otherwise. 

 

'Oh, don't say that. I'm sure Adrien does remember you. If he doesn't, he will, once he sees you again. Once his dumbass father lets you see him.' She could feel the frustration creeping into her voice. 'I mean, I heard that the doctors said social interactions would do him good. His dad is literally slowing down his recovery process. That son of a bitch got everything he deserved. Nah, I take it back- he got maybe twenty percent of what he deserved? I mean, come on- Adrien set out to _kill_ him, and Gabriel ends up with what- a broken arm and a mildly damaged reputation? Pfft. He deserves a lot worse. He deserves what he _got_ before Ladybug's magic reversed it.'

 

Nino nodded. 'He should, like, be in jail. He's- hey, do you think Adrien remembers kill- do you think he remembers hurting his dad? And the other people he...'

 

Shrugging, she replied, 'I don't know, I mean.. I doubt it. I can't remember my time as Lady WiFi and you can't remember-'

 

Her sentence was cut off by the door slamming open, giving her flashbacks to the day Adrien had burst into the room covered in blood- blood, she now knew, which belonged to his father. Mostly. There were other victims of the attack. Including Chloé, who, although only received a slash to the face, had still not returned to school because she was apparently too traumatised. Or perhaps because she didn't want anyone to see her less than perfect face. When Marinette had used her cleansing power to fix everything, it hadn't healed people's minor injuries, which was strange. But apparently it did undo more serious injuries. Without Ladybug's power, dozens of people would be dead.

 

As the door bounced in its frame, Marinette herself stood panting in the doorway.

'Alya! I need to.. speak to... you!' she gasped, and ran out of the room as quickly as she'd entered.

 

The brunette shrugged helplessly at Nino and followed her friend. There were still a few people outside of the room, heading to their various classes, so Marinette dragged Alya to the girls' bathroom where it was quiet.

 

'Mari, what's this about?'

Alya lifted herself up to perch on one of the sinks. 

'Is it Adrien?'

 

'Yes- no- I- maybe?' Marinette gasped. 

 

'Breathe, girl! Try to calm down.'

 

The bluenette nodded slowly and took a deep breath.

'Okay. So I was talking to Tikki last night. And... I don't know if I told you, but a while back, I put the cat miraculous on.'

 

'Adrien's ring?'

 

'Yeah. I didn't mean to, it just kind of... happened.'

 

'Oh. I'm... guessing you're not supposed to do that?'

 

Mari laughed bitterly. 'Nope. It has a lot of negative power in it, which basically stayed in my body. So I have all this dark energy in me, which came out of the ring, and now the Cataclysm power doesn't work- Tikki says the ring will get its power back in time, but as for me, I think it's just gonna stay inside of me for ages, apparently it'll get used to my body though-' Mari paused to breathe.

 

'Oh. That... that doesn't sound good.'

 

'Mm. It explains why I've been having random surges of anger recently. Oh, and the other thing? Gabriel has the ring.'

 

_'What?!'_

 

'Well, Hawkmoth does. Tikki can sense it; and it's only further evidence that Gabriel is Hawkmoth. His son goes into hospital, and they take his ring away- of course they're going to give it to his father! It's so obvious. He has the ring and it's _terrible!'_

Marinette rested her head against the wall. 

 

'Okay, don't get me wrong, but surely it isn't _that_ bad. If the Cataclysm power isn't in the ring, it can't hurt anyone, right?'

 

'It's not just that, Alya. It means that if Adrien manages to get fully better, he can't transform. And the ring's power will come back eventually. And even if it isn't working right now... Hawkmoth is one step closer to winning.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, that was that :D
> 
> As always, feedback is very much appreciated, and I'm @protectchatnoir on tumblr if ya wanna find me there :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was all one big jumble of days and nights and days, time just blurring past. It was impossible to tell then from now, yesterday from today, this morning from this evening.
> 
> Things were derailing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaaaaaa I know I haven't updated in ages but here's a chapter out of the blue 
> 
> So I'm not 100% sure where I'm going with this because I'm getting distracted by I See Right Through You, but this is gonna keep updating. That said, I'm not sure how often, and how many people are still reading it xD but imma try and at least get pt 2 out in the next few months, n get it off my conscience ;D 
> 
> Enjoy!! :)

 

Chapter Six

 

Ladybug hadn't come back to visit him.

 

Not since the day with his father.

 

He hadn't played piano for a while. He wasn't in the mood. He wasn't eating much; he was hardly sleeping.

It was all one big jumble of days and nights and days, time just blurring past. It was impossible to tell then from now, yesterday from today, this morning from this evening.

Things were derailing. 

It was slow at first. His memory growing patchy again. He hadn't remembered much anyway, but now he was forgetting the faces he'd been desperately trying to learn.

One face stuck out though: Marinette's. He didn't remember a lot about her, only that she was nice, and smelt like cinnamon rolls and cookies and gingerbread. Just thinking about Marinette brought a smile to his face. He wanted to talk about her, tell everyone how amazing she was, but there was nobody to talk to. Well, their were the doctors and psychiatrists and therapists, but he wanted to talk to someone who would really _listen_. Someone who understood. He wanted to talk to _Ladybug._

 

And, although the concept of days and weeks was slipping away altogether, time passed. Although he had no idea how long he'd gone without seeing her, time passed, and then Ladybug came back.

 

They told him it was the eighteenth day of December, less than a week until Christmas. He didn't remember a lot about past Christmases, but there was a vague memory of it somewhere. It was a nice thing, he thought. Which figured, because things were a little less dull. They hung colourful lights in his room during the daytime, but took them down at night, for some reason. They probably didn't trust him enough to leave the lights up. They didn't trust him much at all. The only person he'd spoken to a lot was Ladybug, who he felt comfortable with. He had talked a bit with the various medical people who visited him, but Ladybug... he felt an unusual bond with her. As if they'd been close for a while. But the memories from Before came back slowly, in a blurry, warped way, and they didn't make much sense. Most of them seemed strange and dreamlike: sitting in high places, running across rooftops... 

It made no sense.

One memory was clear, though. He was thinking about that memory when she came to see him on the eighteenth day of December. 

 

It was a bad day. Some days were worse- and this day was worse, worse than things had been for a while. He was remembering more things which didn't make sense- fighting, hurting people- and he felt uncomfortable. 

 

When she came in, everything in his mind suddenly calmed, and he felt himself smiling.

 

He was sitting on the edge of the bed, just thinking, not doing anything other than absent mindedly playing cat's cradle with a loop of elastic to busy his hands.

 

'Hi,' he murmured, finding himself unusually awkward all of a sudden. 

 

'Hey! It's been a while.' She sat down in the white chair which had gone unused for-

 

'Like, two weeks, I think? I came to see you, actually, but they wouldn't let me in- apparently you got in an argument, or something.'

 

Ah. That made sense. His yelling at his dad meant she couldn't come see him.

 

'Oh,' he sighed, grimacing. 'So, they were punishing me. Figures.'

 

Ladybug shrugged sympathetically. 'I don't know. Maybe your dad didn't want you to see anyone, maybe it was the doctors... but it doesn't matter, I'm here now! So, how are things going?'

 

It was his turn to shrug now. 'Uh.. well, today's been a little... Things have been...' Finding himself unable to answer he turned the question to her. 'How about you? How are things?'

 

'Well, busy, mostly. Christmas shopping, fighting crime- I mean, things have been pretty slow on the superheroing front, but I've been sorting out a couple of other crimes, robberies and the like. There hasn't been a whole lot of evil since Chat-' She trailed off, smiling sadly.

 

Chat. He knew that, he'd heard it before. She'd said it as if it were a name. Who was Chat? He knew, he was sure of it.

 

'What do you mean? I know you're like, a superhero, but things have always been like they are now, right? I mean, you didn't have a partner or something, did you? Did you? Is that who Chat is?'

 

His questions grew more frantic as he went on, and she looked a little startled. 

 

'Oh, Adrien, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring that up. I shouldn't be talking about this, Plagg would hate me even more than he does already. God, I was so foolish! He was probably so angry with me, and- I let Hawkmoth get him, I'm such an idiot! Deciding what was best for you, and- and dragging you out to battle, and- God, Chat, I miss you.'

Tears were rolling down her face now as he watched with wide eyes, wondering what to do. What she was saying made no sense. What was Plagg? But somehow, somewhere in his mind, it did make sense. Suddenly reality shifted drastically and he found himself understanding, knowing what was going on. It was like he had no control over his body, he just started talking.

 

'I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I miss you too. I'd give anything to go back to how it was before. It's not your fault. Plagg's okay, I know he is. We'll find him, as soon as I get out of here. I promise. I love you.' 

 

And then, as quickly as it had come on, it all went back to confused and messed up. What he'd just said... it didn't even make sense.

 

'Um, what's a Plagg?'

 

***

 

Ladybug found herself staring at him, dumbstruck.

 

What had just happened? It was as if suddenly the real Adrien came back- but then he'd slipped away again. He looked as confused as she felt, so she just nodded slowly, then shook her head.

 

He frowned and cleared his throat.

'Uh, I wanted to ask something.'

 

'Mm?'

 

'Okay, so my memory has been pretty spotty-' he nodded at her suit- 'no pun intended- and I remembered something, but I'm not sure if it actually happened, or if I dreamt it.'

 

'Okay. What's the memory?'

 

'So, I was at Marinette's house a little while before I came here. And I remember standing on her balcony, and you were there. And we... we kissed.'

 

She felt herself blushing, and stared at the floor.

'Umm.. yeah, that, uh, that happened.'

 

He nodded. 'Oh. It's just... I didn't think we knew each other, before you started visiting me here. I mean, I knew who you were. It felt like I'd known you forever. It feels like that now. It's just that I can't _remember_.'

 

'No, no, it's... we... we did know each other. We were close. But it doesn't matter if you don't remember. Some things are... best forgotten. I made some really bad choices. I'm really sorry. You wouldn't even... be here if I had... thought things through. You wouldn't even be here if my iffy wishy washy super power had healed your head injury and then you wouldn't have gone all comatose in hospital and then you wouldn't have had the guilt of being in hospital and then I'd never have figured out your identity and you wouldn't have had that extra guilt of being discovered and I wouldn't have fallen if love with Chat if I hadn't known because I was so dedicated to you and then my bad choices that followed wouldn't have been necessary and I wouldn't have had to try and help you and- oh my _god_. I have to go.'

 

She jumped up and ran from the room as fast as possible.

~

The second she was in her room and detransformed she began frantically pacing the room.

 

' _Tikki!_  Tikki, what is going on?!'

 

'What do you mean, Marinette?'

 

'I mean Adrien got hit- or burnt, or whatever- whilst we were fighting Elfena. And he went into hospital and then all of this hectic chaos followed.'

 

'Yes, what of it?'

 

' _Well_. My power should have _fixed_  him. When I called Miraculous Ladybug he should have _healed_. But he still went into a coma.'

 

'I suppose that is a little odd, but-'

 

'That's not all, though! That very same morning, I woke up on my balcony. And I couldn't find you. Later that day I found you trapped under my bed. Yes?'

 

'Yes, but I'm sure-'

 

'We never do figure out _how_  you got there. And we never figured out why I woke up on my balcony. I didn't even remember going to sleep. So that's all a bit weird. But! My super power didn't fix Adrien's head injury when we fought Elfena. And when Adrien was akumatized, when he hurt all those people, what happened then? My power _brought people back to life_. But it didn't heal the people with more minor injuries! Weird, right? That's not the only strange thing. Gabriel Agreste- probably Hawkmoth, possibly not- akumatized _his own son-_ if we're assuming that Gabriel _is_ Mr. Homicidal-Maniac-Man-In-a-Butterfly-Suit.

And then Adrien went to seek revenge on whoever had wronged him or whatever- Chloé got in his way, no problem, I'll just, y'know, slash her face open!- and the other people he hurt- we don't know who half of them _are!_  But he heads over to kill his father- but his father, who is most likely a psychopathic super villain, should be transformed, right? If he was busy controlling his latest minion, he should've been transformed, as Hawkmoth. So doesn't that mean that Adrien set out to kill Hawkmoth, not Gabriel Agreste? Or maybe Adrien knew? Either way, how did Adrien know where to find him? And why would he want to kill his father? Okay, his dad can be pretty cold and stuff, but he does _love_ Adrien. Right? So let's assume that Adrien actually set out to kill _Hawkmoth_. 

And yet we see on the news that _Gabriel Agreste was murdered, Gabriel Agreste was brought back to life by Ladybug!_  So does that mean Hawkmoth _isn't_ Gabriel? I doubt that, all other evidence points his way. It makes sense how he got the ring, it makes sense why there have been no akumas lately- so if we're saying Hawkmoth _is_  Gabriel, does that mean that Adrien _knew?_  Or maybe he was just trying to kill Hawkmoth? Or maybe- but if that's the case, how did he find him? And the news, why the- what if he was trying to-?'

 

She paced a little more, thinking.

 

'So my powers brings back people from the dead, but it doesn't heal smaller injuries? That makes no sense. Miraculous Ladybug! should fix everything. Not just the bigger stuff. I mean, if the Eiffel Tower gets knocked over- it fixes that. But if, say, a lamp gets knocked over- it's smaller, not as big a deal- but it still. Gets. Fixed. So why didn't my power heal his he a injury? Why didn't it heal Chloé's face? _Why, when Adrien got hurt whilst fighting Elfena, why did my powers not fix him?! That would have stopped all of this crazy mess- none of this would have happened in the first place!_

Why is Gabriel Agreste alive again, but his arm is still broken? It doesn't. Make. Sense. Things are not adding up. So what's going on here? Am I missing something altogether, or is there something wrong with my miraculous?' 

 

Tikki shrugged helplessly. 'I don't know, Marinette. Nothing like this has ever happened before.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaaaaa it's getting dramatic and stuff xD
> 
> Well I hope you liked it! Recently I've been using Pinterest, so find me there (my username is also kittycatnoir :D)!!
> 
> Have an awesome day guys :)
> 
> ***this chapter contains mentions of death and injuries caused by past akumas***


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette has a lot of questions and Adrien finally takes a big step towards his recovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it's taken forever to update!!! I miss my Mondays and Fridays schedule whaaaaa :(  
> Anyways life has been wayyyy busy and I've been hella distracted with other fics. Which, if you're interested, include a voltron ghost hunting AU, a miraculous The Good Place AU which will be out soon, a miraculous vampire and werewolf AU, oh my Lord I do like AUs..... And a miraculous smol fluffy one shot coming out tomorrow hopefully!!!! I know, angst is usually my thing, but I'm trying my hand at smth a little more....... less angsty hahaha 
> 
> So anyways enjoy this chapter!!! :D

Chapter Seven

 

She didn't sleep that night, just lay awake staring at the ceiling. None of it made  _sense_. What was going on? Why hadn't her restoring power fixed everything? Why had it brought people back to  _life?_  Now that she thought about it, she never knew before whether her miraculous had the power of resurrection; previous akumas hadn't  _killed_ anyone. But apparently the miraculous could bring people back to life. But why hadn't it healed Adrien's head? Why hadn't it healed Gabriel's arm? And Chloé's face?

 

_What was going on?_

 

It didn't make sense.

 

When her alarm went off it was still dark. There were only a few days left of school and Mari wanted to make the most of it- she hadn't been able to focus much lately, so had a fair bit of catching up to do.

She got out of bed silently, prepared for school silently, slipped a sleeping Tikki into her purse and left the building without a sound. As soon as she got to school she slid into her seat and took her books from her bag, hoping to do some homework or revision. But it was no good. She just couldn't concentrate.

 

_It didn't make sense._

She hadn't been there to stop people from getting hurt.

They got hurt before she'd even called for her Lucky Charm-

 

maybe that was why her powers didn't fix everything?

 

It still didn't make sense though. It didn't explain why Adrien's head injuries didn't heal after Elfena. And it certainly didn't explain how Adrien had managed to get the akuma out of himself without her help. Of course, she'd found the bug and purified it afterwards, but... 

He'd turned up at their classroom, covered in blood- but not akumatized. How did he manage to get out from under Hawkmoth's control?

 

But- if Gabriel was Hawkmoth, and he'd... he would've lost the control of-

_Of course! If Gabriel is Hawkmoth, he would've lost control of the akuma when Adrien kil- when Adrien hurt him. Surely he has to be conscious to direct the akuma, so when he was- when he was hurt, Adrien would've gained enough control to break whichever item the akuma was in._

 

But still, what about the other confusing things that had happened? What about the fight with Elfena? 

Marinette's head was spinning- everything was so  _confusing_ \- so she tried to stop thinking about it.

 

Even so, her mind kept coming back to the same questions:

 

Why didn't Miraculous Ladybug fix Adrien's head? Why did it bring people back to life, but not fix Gabriel's arm, or Chloé's face? Was she missing something, or was there something totally  _off_  with her miraculous?

 

No matter how hard she tried to figure it out, the questions were going around in circles and made absolutely no sense. 

God, this was a mess! How was she supposed to figure this out?

 

The worst part was that it was all her fault.  _Her_  dumb decisions,  _her_  careless actions,  _her_  fault.

 

Perhaps it was time for another visit to Master Fu.

 

***

 

'I... I want to go home.'

 

Mr Agreste raised his eyebrows in surprise. Apparently he had decided to visit him more often, even if last time had ended in yelling and cursing and... had generally not been the best experience.

 

'Adrien. I'm not sure that going home is a good idea at the moment. I know you want to be back home where you feel comfortable-'

 

'Oh, no, you've got it all wrong,' he retorted. 'I don't  _miss_  home. I don't even remember it, to be honest. I just don't like being here.'

 

His father sat in stunned silence for a minute or two before replying.

'Well, maybe there's something we can-'

 

' _Father_ , I don't want you to shower me with ridiculous expensive shit, or whatever else it is that you think passes as decent parenting. You really didn't get the message last time, did you? I don't want anything to do with you, but everybody here treats me like I'm a complete  _imbecile_  and I cannot stand that for one more day. I'm going home.'

 

Sighing, Mr Agreste closed his eyes. 

'I suppose... I may be able to pull a few strings, if-'

 

 _'I don't want you to pull strings!'_  he hissed, jumping up from the piano stool. 'I want you to get me  _out_  of here!' 

 

'I- Adrien, that's hardly-... okay, I'll talk to your doctors.'

 

~

 

The month was drawing to its end and he was  _still_ stuck in this  _stupid_  room. Christmas had gone past without being much of an ordeal. Just under two weeks ago, he'd felt so much worse. Things had been so  _confusing_. But now, things were better. They  _had_  to be better. 

 

 

He had to get out of there.  _He had to get out._

 

'How are you doing today?'

 

He glanced up at the doctor who had silently entered the room, and smiled.

 

'Oh, I'm fine! I'm feeling great, actually.'

 

'That's good.' The doctor detached a clipboard from the end of the bed and tucked it under her arm.

 

'Yeah. Things feel good. Really good.'

 

'Wonderful! Adrien, we've been speaking with your father during the past few weeks, and he feels it's time for you to return home where you can start adjusting and recovering even more tha. you are doing here. How would you feel about that?'

 

He smiled. He didn't want to go home; he didn't want to spend every waking moment in the same building as his father. 

 

But it was better than here.

 

Anywhere was better than here. 

 

'I'd like that. When would I be able to go?'

 

The doctor made for the door. 'At some point this week. Maybe even today or tomorrow, if you think you'd be okay with that.'

 

He froze. '...Today?'

 

'Well, yes, it's possible. We have a fair bit of paperwork to fill with your father first, though. Would you like us to call for him?' 

 

 

'Yes, please.'

He grinned. 'That would be great.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaaaa!!!! Hope ya liked it!!!!! :D 
> 
> Next chapter: Marinette makes a bigbigbig decision- but is it a good one?
> 
> ;D cryptic, I know. Anyhow, AHH I'M SO EXCITED TO BE ACTUALLY PUBLISHING THIS!!!!!!! I got writer's block on chapter seven, and didn't want to have a huge hiatus while I got over it, which is why the other chapters were p spaced out compared to usual. But now that I've finished the dreaded chapter seven and gotten over the block, I can move on and hopefully update more regularly!!! I just wanna finish this fic and get part two out, and then maybe finally finish pt 3. Yep, there's... a part 3. Hopefully xD so I just wanna finish it up. This has been a huuuuuuuge time consuming project and I can't wait to have it done so I can move on with my other projects!!
> 
> Have a great day/night and feel free to chat to me on tumblr! I'm protectchatnoir, and u can send me a message or ask if u wanna chat!!! :D 
> 
> Byeeeee! :)


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette makes a big decision and Adrien is ready to return home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay this is (hopefully xD) where is starts to get a bit more interested rather than the same old angsty angst so anyways here we are! I mean angst is great but this is taking a turn for the.. um... not better but... different, i guess. 
> 
> Obviously I kinda dropped this for a while when I got writer's block on chapter seven but I've literally started writing again and the schedule is out the window I'm just updating like five times a week or smth coz I just wanna get it all out *shrugs*
> 
> Srsly tho I wanna get this fully published and I'm so excited for posting the last chapter hahahahahahaha also there is one more part after pt 2 (also 20 chapters) so yeah hopefully it'll all be out before April  
> Anyways here we goooooooo!!!! :D

Chapter Eight 

 

He wasn't exactly expecting to see Ladybug again before he went home, especially if he was leaving that afternoon. But she turned up to visit him, and flopped on the bed, watching him play the piano. He was far too excited to play a proper piece, so instead played a few repetitive and vaguely tuneless scales. 

 

'Hi! I heard you were going home today!'

 

'Yes! Isn't that awesome? I'm so excited,' he exclaimed, nodding passionately. 'I mean, I'm excited to get out of here. I'm... not exactly looking forward to spending time with my father.' 

 

She sighed. 'Yeah, I... I can imagine. It's great that you're getting out of here, though! I'm so happy for you.'

 

He smiled. 'Thanks. Hey, Ladybug?'

 

'Yeah?' 

 

'I don't suppose you'd be able to come see me in my house?'

 

It was her turn to smile now. 'Absolutely! I'd love to, I mean, if that's okay. With you. And... your dad. I mean, I'm sure it'll be fine, right?'

 

'It will be fine.' He sighed. 'I just hope my dad will let me go back to school soon.'

 

Ladybug gasped suddenly, and he looked up in surprise. 

'What if we- uh, I mean, your classmates- came to you? It could be like a super low key welcome home party!'

 

'Ha, that would be nice. Unfortunately my friends have no way of finding out about my coming home. I've not spoken to a single one of my classmates since coming here.'

 

Her face fell.

 

'Thanks for the thought, though, it's nice. And- thank you for everything. You helped me _so_  much. Honestly, I wouldn't be going home today if it wasn't for you. You're the one person who has always been here for me.'

 

'That's really great. Hey, why don't I talk to your classmates? I'm sure I could make it happen if I spoke to them.'

 

'You'd... do that? For me?'

 

'Sure! Oh, um... I really do want to help you more, but I've just realised... there's something I have to do, and I don't know if I'll be able to visit you at home. You see, there's something I have to- I mean, I can't be- you see, I don't think I should- actually, forget it, I can come and see you. Well, I should be going now, so, um... bye.'

 

Ladybug stood up and left the room.

He was confused. Why had she left so suddenly? And what had she been talking about? It hadn't made much sense. 

 

He shrugged and went back to playing the piano. 

 

Best not to worry about it. 

 

***

 

She knew it was a rash decision, but it was what she had to do. First of all she sent a message to Alya, telling her to make a post on the Ladyblog informing everyone about Adrien's return home. And then she went to Master Fu's place. 

 

Marinette knocked on the gently, and then quietly muttered 'Spots off' after realising she hadn't had time to detransform on her way over from the hospital. 

 

When Master Fu opened the door, Marinette walked straight inside and immediately started talking. 

 

'I know this is a big decision but it's really what I want to do and it's what I have to do and I just don't think I can live with myself if I cause Adrien any more harm because I really love him a lot and he doesn't deserve all the trouble he's been through and if I hadn't been so careless then he wouldn't have-'

 

'Marinette! Relax,' Fu said calmly. 'Would you like some tea?'

 

 _'No!_  I would not like some tea! I'm here to return my miraculous.'

 

'Ah. I wondered when you would.'

 

'I know you don't agree and you're probably disappointed with- wait, what? What do you mean?' 

She frowned.

 

'I mean, I've been expecting this for quite some time. The imbalance of having Ladybug but not Chat Noir causes quite some disturbances in the earth's energy levels.'

 

'Excuse me?'

 

He didn't answer, just repeated her earlier statement. 'You're here to return your miraculous.'

 

'Yes.'

 

'Tell me why.'

 

'I caused this. Adrien is unwell because of me. All I want is for him to recover, and maybe, in the future, for things to go back to how they were before. But not until he's truly well again. I've made so many irresponsible decisions and haven't been using my powers for the right reasons. I thought that just because I'm a superhero, I could fix everything. But I've learnt now that nothing fixes everything. Not even my Ladybug powers. I know that now. My powers were able to bring Gabriel Agreste back to life after Adrien- after Adrien's akuma... you know. And all the other people he hurt mostly healed, but not all of them. I don't understand why, or how. Tikki explained to me everything about source energy, and it is such a huge thing that I can barely comprehend it.' 

Marinette smiled sadly at the kwami who now floated in front of her.

 

'Don't get me wrong, I've loved being Ladybug. But there is so much that I don't understand, and I think maybe I don't have to. Maybe I can just accept that superpowers don't follow strict rules, and things don't always make sense. Heck, I wore a bug suit with magical earrings. But maybe things don't have to make sense. And right now, I don't believe I truly deserve to be Ladybug. I have made so many terrible choices. So I don't think I should keep the miraculous. A little while ago, Tikki said I should take my earrings out for a while. I did, but it didn't last very long. I just need you to keep them safe. I don't feel I should be entrusted with them any longer. That's why I'm giving them up.'

 

He nodded slowly. 'Marinette, you will always be Ladybug. But I think you have made the right decision, and a brave one, as well.'

 

'...Thanks. I just wish I could do something for Adrien. So many times I confused him and muddled with his head out of the blue... I regret so many things. It's my fault he's in hospital.'

 

'But you have helped him already. You visited him regularly in hospital, did you not? I hear that without your help, Adrien would have never recovered.'

 

'I... I suppose. But listen, I have an idea. I promised him I'd visit him at his house. As Ladybug, that is. I thought maybe I could get a costume or something. That way Ladybug can still see him, without me actually being Ladybug, if that makes sense.'

 

'Hmm... I suppose so. But I hope you realise that, with Hawkmoth still on the loose, we will need a new hero. Especially now that he has the cat miraculous.'

 

Her eyes widened. 'You know about that?'

 

'Of course.'

 

'Wait- you mean... a new Ladybug?'

 

'Perhaps not.' Master Fu moved over to the chest of drawers at the side of the room and came back moments later with a large box. 

 He set it down and opened it, revealing the miraculous she'd seen before. But then more compartments opened, additional layers revealing themselves underneath. 

 

Marinette gasped. 'I had no idea there were so many miraculous.'

 

'Paris needs a new hero, Marinette. Be sure to choose wisely.' He smile kindly at her.

 

'Wait- you want  _me_ to choose? After everything I've done- everything I've messed up- you still trust me in choosing Paris' new hero?' 

 

Mastee Fu's only answer was a firm nod, and he moved away from the box.

'I'll give you some time to decide. I do trust you, Marinette. I know you'll make the right choice.'

 

And then she knew. 'Wait, I- I know who it should be.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY PEOPLE YOU ALL KNOW WHAT'S COMING NEXT!
> 
> i mean know you don't but its p easy to work out
> 
> I mean I could be bluffing. It could be something totally unexpected. But it might not be. Hahahaha!
> 
> You're just going to have to wait until chapter nine! Mwahaha! 
> 
> Jkjk I'm posting it now ok


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new superhero is chosen for Paris, but somebody else gets in the mix.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHH this chapter is fun
> 
> Next chapter is fun too tbh
> 
> This part of the story is just.... fun. Hahaha  
> Idk if I'm being ironic or not it's just.... heh. Fun.
> 
> Anyways! Enjoy~ :D

Chapter Nine

 

Alya glanced over her shoulder to make sure that Marinette wasn't talking to anybody else, even though there wasn't anyone else in the bathroom. One of the cubicles was shut, but they were sure no one was in there, as it was completely silent- and a quick glance under the door confirmed that it was empty.

 

'You want _me_  to be the new superhero of Paris?' she hissed. 'Girl, are you  _crazy?'_

 

'Absolutely not. Actually... it's quite possible. But I need you to do this. Please.'

 

Marinette thrust the box at her again.

 

'No. No, I can't do it. I can't be Ladybug!' 

 

'You won't. I picked a different miraculous for you, Alya.'

 

'A different- I thought Hawkmoth had the cat miraculous?'

 

'There are more than just two. Please, Alya! Paris needs you. I need you.'

 

'I still don't understand why you're giving up your earrings!'

 

'It's something I had to do. Please? Just try transforming. Once. Just to see how it feels.'

 

Marinette was starting to sound desperate, and Alya didn't want to upset her, so she gave in. 

 

'Fine.' She snatched the box out of Mari's hand and locked herself in one of the cubicles. 

 

'Hey, this looks like Lila's-' 

 

'Just put it on, Alya.'

 

'Fine, whatever,' she muttered. 

 

There was a sudden blinding flash of light a and something appeared in front of her face. 

 

'Hi! I'm Trixx, you're kwami! You must be the new fox miraculous holder. I can't wait to have all sorts of adventures with you, you look fun! Hey, is this a bathroom? Wow, I've been asleep for a pretty long time, and I didn't expect to wake up in a-'

 

Alya screamed a little.

'Oh my god! You're so cute! But don't ever do that again, you scared the living heck out of me. And, yeah, it's a bathroom. Sorry about that. My friend Marinette wants me to be the new hero of Paris- she just gave up her Ladybug earrings. This is the most private place in school, so...'

 

'Wow. That's a big deal. Think you got what it takes to be a real superhero?'

 

Alya nodded. 

 

'Great! All you have to say is "Trixx, let's pounce", and you'll transform!'

 

'Wicked,' she replied, grinning. 'Can I transform now? School's over, by the way, so I could go straight outside.'

 

Trixx seemed to take a moment to think about it. 'I guess so. But... don't go getting into any fight yet, okay? Start off by getting used to your new powers.'

 

'Awesome! Trixx, let's pounce!' 

 

***

 

Marinette grinned when Alya came out of the cubicle. 

'You look amazing!'

 

'Really? Thanks! It does kinda look like the suit that Lila had when she was akumatized. But it's actually really comfy!'

 

'You'll need a superhero name.'

 

'Hmm... how about... Rena? Rena Rouge!'

 

Mari smiled. 'I like it!'

 

'Awesome! I wanna go roam the streets, or whatever it is that superheroes do!'

 

Laughing, Marinette moved towards the bathroom door. 

'Okay. But I'm leaving first. If we leave together, it'll look suspicious.'

 

When she was outside, she found a wall to sit on. After a couple of minutes had passed she watched her friend slip out of the bathroom, in her new suit, with a grin on her face. 

 

Marinette smiled, a little sadly. She was so happy that Alya was finally living her dream and being a superhero- but she would miss being Ladybug. 

 

 _It's for the best,_  she told herself. _I made some really bad decisions and I'm not the best person for the job._

 

Suddenly she felt someone grab her from behind, causing her to almost fall off the wall. 

'Ah! What the-?'

 

'Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I can't believe it was you! Deceiving us this whole entire time. And to think I _looked up_  to you!'

 

' _Chloé?!_  But I- I didn't know you were even back in school yet!'

 

'I have been. Ever since school started up again since New Year. If you'd been a little more observant, maybe you would have noticed.'

 

'Oh. I'm sorry, I-'

 

'I know you're little secret, Dupain-Cheng. I heard every word of it. You're Ladybug! And now you're sending off Alya to be the new superhero.'

 

'What- _how?_ There was no one else in the toilets. We checked under the door, we didn't see-'

 

'Yeah, well, I lifted my bag and my feet up. You're really _dense_ , aren't you?'

 

'I- I- Chloé, _please_ don't tell anybody. If you did, Alya's life could be in danger!'

 

Chloé swung up onto the wall beside her.

'Well, I don't see why I _shouldn't_  tell anyone. I don't owe anything to Alya. And I can't believe you lied to all of your classmates. You've been sneaking off to see Adrien, without giving his _real_  friends an opportunity to see him. It's disgraceful, really.'

 

Marinette felt tears forming in her eyes. 'Chloé, I'm _sorry._ But you must _not_ tell anyone. Please. Paris needs a superhero, and without Ladybug, well... we have Rena Rouge now. But if you reveal her identity, we will have _no one_. Don't you see? This isn't about petty classroom quarrels anymore. If you expose Alya, Paris is in total jeopardy. People will _die_. _You_  could die! And so could Adrien! Please, Chloé. I'll do anything you want, just don't tell anyone.'

 

For a second, doubt and fear wavered across Chloé's face, but then the sneer returned.  _'Anything, huh?'_

 

'Yes! Just keep quiet about Alya!'

 

'Fine! Have it your way, Marinette. I'll stay silent. On one condition: I get to be Ladybug.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN DUN DUNNNNNN
> 
> what will happen next? You'll have to wait until next chapter ;D 
> 
> ...which will be up later today or tomorrow. Heh.
> 
> Byeeeee! :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And a new superhero is born. Well, not born, but- you know what I mean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaaaaaaaa!!!!! This chapter marks the halfway point of the Think Fast series!!!! We're officially 1/2 way through now. Wow people I can't believe we made it this far! If you're reading this, well, thanks for sticking with me through my mildly wobbly schedule and so on xD 
> 
> So anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!! :D

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Ten

 

_'What?'_

 

'You heard me, Dupain-Cheng. I want to be Ladybug. I know you have the ability to get hold of the miraculous- you got that necklace for Alya, after all. Get me the earrings, and we'll call it quits, mkay?'

 

 _'No way!_  What makes you think that you have what it takes to be a hero? You don't!'

 

'Maybe not. But you don't have a choice. This "Rena Rouge" of yours needs a partner, no? You did always have Chat Noir, after all. Get me the Ladybug earrings and my lips are sealed.'

 

Marinette knew that if she agreed, it would just be one more thing on her list of bad decisions. But if she said no, Chloé could put all of Paris at risk.

 

 _'Fine_. I'll see what I can do.'

 

~

 

She should have thought it through, really. She should have expected this.

 

'I'm sorry, Marinette, but I don't think it's a good idea. I thoroughly approved of you putting your miraculous away; especially since the black cat miraculous isn't currently active, having the ladybug miraculous in use would cause imbalance in energy levels. The powers would be unstable- more so than they were already.'

 

'I _know._  But it isn't for me! Rena Rouge needs a partner. She can't protect Paris on her own! I have someone in mind. _Please,_  Master Fu. This is so important.'

 

He sighed. 'I'm sorry, but the answer is no. I will not redistribute the ladybug miraculous.'

 

She groaned.

 

' _However._  If you are adamant that Paris needs another superhero, I will allow you to take one of the other miraculous.'

 

'Really? Oh, thank you!' Marinette gasped. 

 

It wasn't exactly what Chloé had demanded, but she knew that Alya _did_  need a superhero partner. And having a Ladybug without a Chat Noir would surely disturb the balance of the universe, so it would have to do.

 

'I mean, Rena needs a partner, so... yeah. It's good. Which do you think I should choose?'

 

'You say you already have someone in mind?'

 

'Yes.'

 

'Then pick a miraculous which will suit them.'

 

Master Fu retrieved the box of miraculous and set it in front of her.

 

Concentrating hard, Marinette examined the miraculous, trying not to pay attention to her- to the ladybug miraculous. 

 

In the end she picked out what seemed to be some kind of hair comb. 

 

'Is this a bee miraculous?'

 

'It is. Is this what you want to choose?'

 

Well Chloé certainly _stung_  like a bee, so it fit pretty well. 

 

'I think so. Yes.'

 

~ 

 

'Um. This doesn't look like Ladybug earrings, Dupain-Cheng.'

 

Marinette hauled herself up to sit on the bathroom sink. 

'I know. But you can't use the earrings without the cat miraculous being in use, and- and we don't have it at the moment. It- Hawkmoth has it.'

 

Chloé's eyes widened, almost implying that she actually cared. 

'Wait, the bad guy? That isn't good.'

 

'No. And you're main task as one of Paris' superheroes is to fight the akumas he sends and try to retrieve Adrien's-'

 

Marinette stopped herself, but it was too late.

 

_'Adrien? Adrien is Chat Noir?!'_

 

Too late. 

 

Well, if Chloé was going to be a superhero, she might as well know everything. 

 

'Yes. Well, he was. But know he doesn't even remember and he's in danger without his ring. We- we think his dad is Hawkmoth.'

 

'Gabriel Agreste?' Chloé muttered. 'No way. And- he has the ring?'

 

'You almost sound like you care.'

 

'I do!' she snapped. 'Look, I know we've had our differences, but we need to help Adrien. If Agreste is Hawkmoth, we need to break into his house and search for the ring. I'm his childhood friend. His father surely won't object to me visiting his son. I saw the Ladyblog's post about Adrien returning home. I can get into the house easily.'

 

Marinette frowned. 'But how will you search the house without Gabriel finding out? If you leave Adrien alone so you can look around, you'll have to come up with a really good excuse as to why you left him on his own if you get caught.'

 

'You're right... what if we play hide and seek? I can sneak off whilst he hides. That would work, right?'

 

'Hmm... maybe.' She grinned. 'But I have a better idea. I told Adrien I'd get his classmates to through him a welcome home party. If we through the party, you and Alya can sneak off and transform whilst I stay with Adrien and our classmates. That way, Gabriel won't suspect anything. He doesn't know that there are new superheroes, so if Ladybug doesn't show up, he won't suspect anything!'

 

'It's perfect! When will the party be?' 

 

'Um... if we send invitations via text tonight, we can do the party tomorrow. I think it's better to get it done sooner rather than later.'

 

'Great. Naturally I have everyone's phone numbers, since I'm the most popular. I'll send invitations.'

 

'Uh _huh._  But you have homework.'

 

'Homework? Ugh, that is so unfair!'

 

'Yep. All you have to do is get used to your powers. Remember, being a superhero involves fighting akumas. And, if things don't go to plan tomorrow, maybe even Hawkmoth himself. Go find Alya, and practice a little. I know when I started out as Ladybug, I had a little trouble with-'

 

'Yeah, yeah, get used to my powers. Got it.'

 

Marinette rolled her eyes, smiling slightly. 'Go find Alya, okay? She's allowed to know your identity, I guess. You know hers, after all. Plus- she'll murder me if I keep it a secret. Tell her I sent you, and if she's mad, take it out on me. I have a feeling she would've rather had Nino or someone as an accomplice.

 

As Chloé nodded and turned to go, Marinette added, 'Oh, yeah, and Chloé. Make sure to choose a superhero name. Ask your kwami for help if you can't think of anything.'

 

'My _what?'_

 

Marinette laughed at her confused expression. 

'You'll see.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHAAAAA!!!! 1/2 THROUGH!!!!!!!! 
> 
> Hope y'all liked it, and see you soon! :D 
> 
> I'm protectchatnoir on tumblr if you wanna find me there! :)


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Marinette sent me. She said you needed a superhero partner. I also may have blackmailed her a little bit."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaaaa I was gonna put this up yesterday but I forgot. Anyhow, here's chapter 11!!!!! :D enjoy!

Chapter Eleven

 

'Who the heck are you?'

 

'You can call me Queen Bee.'

 

'Oh _kay_. Can I... um... help you?'

Alya took a step away from the edge of the building, worried about falling off if she got into a fight. The bee lady didn't seem like she was about to attack her, though.

 

'Yeah. Alya, it's me, Chloé. Marinette sent me. She said you needed a superhero partner. I also may have blackmailed her a little bit. But she said if you were mad, you should take it out on her, and I'm not going to argue with that. I mean, you're not allowed to fight me, anyway. We're on the same side.'

 

Alya felt her face heat up with anger. 

'Are we?' she growled. 'You don't deserve to be on our side. I don't see why Marinette couldn't send- oh, I don't know- Nino! Or somebody we can actually trust, even Rose or Juleka or Alix or Myléne or- _basically anyone else in our class except you!_ And- "Queen Bee"? What kind of shitty superhero name is that?'

 

 

Chloé took a step back. 'Jeez, chill it, fox girl. _I'm on your side._ And Pollen came up with it, not me. I'm not as creative as someone like you or Marinette. Coming up with original ideas is actually pretty hard for some of us.'

 

'Whatever,' Alya snapped. 'I can't believe I'm saying this, but if we're going to be working as a team from now on, I guess we'll have to at least try to get along with each other. You just... forget I'm Alya, and I'll forget you're Chloé, and let's just pretend we're two superheroes who basically don't know each other. Kay?'

 

'Fine. Listen, the class is throwing Adrien a welcome home party tomorrow. We're going to sneak off and look for Adrien's ring.'

 

'How much do you know?'

 

'Everything I need to, I think. Adrien is- was Chat, Marinette is- _was_  Ladybug, and Gabriel is number one suspect on the "who's Hawkmoth?" list.'

 

'There's a "who's Hawkmoth?" list?'

 

'There is now.'

 

***

 

He didn't know what to expect. He didn't know what home would be like. 

 

When he arrived, it was nothing too unusual. In fact, he almost recognised it. Different things around the house brought back different, random snippets of memories. 

 

'I'll leave you to settle in, but I'll have your bodyguards check up on you soon.'

 

 _Bodyguards?_  He was sure there had only been one before. Ah, it seemed his father was worried about him. Whether Mr Agreste was worried for his safety or worried he'd try to make a break for it, it was hard to say. Either way, the security in the house had evidently gone up a level.

 

He walked the large, empty house on his own. It was strange. A huge portrait on the wall showed him standing beside his father. He looked unhappy. 

 

_Was this really the life he'd been living?_

 

Surely there had to be something- a little excitement or fun, something that involved sneaking out and living his dreams.

He could _almost_  remember. But not quiet.

Soon, though. Soon he would remember. 

 

The simple feeling of being home again solved many pieces of the puzzle. He was a model. The portrait had reminded him of that. But a glance at his reflection in an ornamental silver vase told him otherwise. At least, he clearly hadn't looked... _himself_  for a while. The boy he saw in the silver metal hardly matched the picture of him with his father. 

That boy- in the portrait- had a healthy glow about him, round cheeks, healthy skin and hair, a good complexion. 

Other photos told him he fenced. And was good at it, by the looks of things, too. He had a good body for it. A strong body.

 

Now his skin was too pale, his hair too long and lank, his cheek bones too sharp and narrow, his eyes hollow and afraid. And his body felt wrong. Too light and weak, unlike these photos of him. He looked strong in these photos, but he didn't feel strong now. There was a good chance that he wouldn't even be able to throw a punch.

 

The very moment that thought came to him, he regretted it. It left all sorts of questions swirling in his mind. 

 

_Why would he need to throw a punch?_

 

Fencing didn't require that kind of combat, he knew that much. He tried to forget about it. He could think about that later.

 

For now he would try, little by little, to become the boy he once was.

 

 

First he went to his father. He resented the fact that he needed his dad's help- but he couldn't do it without him, so he had no choice.

 

'Please can I have some scissors?'

 

Mr Agreste looked alarmed, to say the least. 

'Why on earth would you ask for scissors, Adrien?'

 

'I'd like to cut my hair.'

 

'Oh. Well, I'll book you an appointment, or call your stylist. We can get it done this evening.'

 

'No,' he said, quietly but firmly. 'I want to do it myself.'

 

What looked like an element of fear flashed across his father's features.

 

~

 

He went upstairs moments later, triumphant, scissors in hand.

 

First he took a shower, taking the good part of an hour to wash and rewash and rewash again until all the horrible remnants of hospital disinfectant and chemicals had gone. He used an entire bottle of shampoo on his hair, working through the left over tangles with his fingers, getting rid of that dirty feeling, and softening it with a little conditioner.

  After his shower, he plugged in the hairdryer, but the sound it made shook him up a little, so he resorted to drying his hair with a soft bath towel. He rubbed his hair until it was almost dry, leaving it with a fluffy, feathery feeling. He liked that. It felt clean, but also soft and comforting. 

 

Then he slipped on a towelling bathrobe and positioned himself in front of the mirror, scissors in hand. He started by taking a little hair off, working his way upwards. After another half hour of perfecting it, he examined his handiwork. It was short, maybe shorter than he'd ever had it before. But he liked it. It felt clean and tidy, better than ever.

 

Next he found his wardrobe and traded in his bathrobes for some clean clothes. He chose some blue jeans along with a black t-shirt and white jacket. They were soft, and smelt comforting, like washing powder and fabric softener. 

He found some socks and slipped on a pair of casual shoes. Finding the nearest full length mirror, he regarded his reflection cautiously. 

 

He was finally starting to look like himself again.

 

 

Adrien smiled.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T_T why do I do this to these precious children  
> Anyways, looks like Adrien is feeling a bit better. Let's see what next chapter brings ;)
> 
> I'm protectchatnoir on tumblr so feel free to send me an ask or message or just hang out ya know?  
> Have a great day anyway and see y'all soon! :D


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I haven't updated for awhile coz I got kinda stuck on this chapter, but hey, I did it! xD
> 
> Hope ya like it ;)

Chapter Twelve

 

Chloé adjusted the hair comb anxiously, and glanced over to where Alya and Marinette sat in their usual seats. Alya was chatting with Nino in the row in front, but Marinette caught Chloé's eye and smiled. 

 

No one suspected anything. 

 

Everybody in the class would be attending Adrien's welcome home party that night, and as far as they knew, it wouldn't be anything more than a party. As far as they knew, there wouldn't be any sneaking around trying to find the cat miraculous. 

 

Chloé smiled.

 

Tonight was going to be good.

 

~

 

She flicked absent-mindedly on to the Ladyblog, scrolling past the few blurry photos of Queen Bee and Rena Rouge that Alya had uploaded that morning. It was enough to get Paris psyched about the new heroes, but not enough to gain unwanted attention from Hawkmoth. 

 

Picking up her purse, Chloé moved towards the door. 

'Come on, Pollen, we have to go,' she said quietly. Then turning back to the stairs she shouted to her father.

'I'm leaving for Adrien's welcome home party, kay? I'll be back soon.'

 

No reply. 

 

She shrugged, pulling on her jacket and moving out into the cold, early morning air. It wasn't a surprise party; they had called the Agreste household in the morning. And, whilst they hadn't _exactly_  received permission from Gabriel Agreste, he should've had a message by now informing him of the plans. _Well_. Not all of the plans, of course. He had no idea of their plans to retrieve the cat miraculous. 

 

 _Adrien's miraculous._ It was still a little hard to believe that it was him. That it had been him this whole time. That he hadn't trusted her enough to-

 

 _No._  His identity had to stay a secret- it wasn't like he didn't trust her, or something. 

 

Chloé shook that thought from her head. 

 

When she reached his house, she didn't even have to ring: the gates were open, as was the front door. Quiet party music flowed from the building. It wasn't too loud- the whole party was very low key. Inside it was dimly lit with soft golden fairy lights, giving the whole place an ethereal glow. Chloé often found the mansion cold and harsh, but this evening it looked simply magical, like something straight out of a fairytale. 

 

Ribbons and flowers adorned the staircase, which was littered with students, from their class as well as a good portion of vaguely familiar faces from other classes. _Everyone_  knew Adrien, so everyone was invited. The music mingled with everyone's little snippets of conversation, giving the whole place a party-like atmosphere, but not enough to throw Adrien off or freak him out. 

 

Then Chloé spotted Adrien himself, at the foot of the stairs, talking with Nino and Alix. When he saw Chloé, he waved. 

 

She was hit with some kind of emotional cocktail of guilt and regret, remembering her goal for tonight. Spending time with her childhood friend was not the priority. By tomorrow, she'd be the big shot superhero around her. That was the important thing. 

 

And then a waiter waltzed by and offered her a _real_  cocktail from a fine silver tray, which she gladly accepted and sipped as she headed towards Adrien. It probably wasn't even alcoholic, but it at least calmed her nerves a little.

 

'Adrikins!' she exclaimed, handing her drink to Alix and engulfing Adrien in a swift hug. 'I'm so glad you're home. It's truly wonderful!'

 

He nodded. 'Yeah, it's exciting. I... I missed you guys. But it's... good to be back. Things are a lot better now.'

 

Alix nodded, and then shrugged and downed Chloé's drink.

 

' _Alix!_ That's- nevermind. Well, it's great to see you, but I'm absolutely starving, so I'm going to head over to the hors d'oeuvres table, mkay? Can I get you guys anything?'

 

Adrien shook his head, Nino gestured wildly to his full plate of pizza rolls and Alix nodded enthusiastically. 

 

'Sure, I'll take a pizza roll! You're the best, Chlo.'

 

Chloé rolled her eyes and sashayed away.

 

~

 

'Just kidding, you're the worst.' Alix turned to Adrien and Nino. 

'She's not coming back, is she?'

 

Adrien shrugged helplessly. 

Alix sighed sadly and stole one of Nino's pizza rolls.

 

~

 

A little way past the hors d'oeuvres table, Chloé saw Alya, who waved urgently. She moved over to Alya.

 

'Okay, we're on. Let's go,' the brunette demanded.

 

The two of them ducked into a nearby closet and transformed quickly, before sneaking away from the busy partygoers and further into the house. 

 

'Look,' Chloé hissed as they darted into one of the close rooms. 'That picture... it's Adrien's mother.'

 

'Aha. I bet he hides stuff behind that.'

 

_'What?'_

 

'Haven't you seen any detective movies? They always investigate portraits and bookcases.'

The fox superhero moved towards the portrait and pulled one side of it. It opened onto a safe.

 

'What would the code be?' she muttered.

 

Chloé shrugged. 'Whatever.' She took a step back and kicked the safe door as hard as she could. It dented a little, and something clicked. Chloé pulled the door open effortlessly, with a smug smile. Her face fell when she saw the safe's contents. 

'Is that... a shrine?' she asked.

 

'What the hell, Chlo- _your royal bee-nest,_  it isn't a shrine. It's probably Gabriel's inspiration zone or something.'

 

'Ew, that's weird!'

 

Alya- _Rena_ , wow, that was going to take some getting used to- shot her a dirty look.

 

'I just mean- if it's where he _thinks_ , it's probably where he plots all of his horrible murder schemes! That's, like, totally messed up.'

 

Rena rolled her eyes. ' _Right_. Let's investigate.' 

 

'There's no miraculous in here.'

 

'Then what's that peacock thingy?' Rena asked.

 

'Who cares? We're here for the ring. Nothing else matters.' Chloé slammed the safe door shut and swung the portrait back into position. She examined the picture closely. 'What I it's some kind of door? To something else, I mean. Other than the safe.'

 

Rena shrugged and turned away. 'I have no clue. That wouldn't even make sense.'

 

Chloé slammed her hands against the portrait, trying to figure out if there were some kind of concealed buttons or- suddenly the floor was giving way beneath her and she had a strange sensation of moving downwards without really falling and then-

 

She glanced around her. Rena Rouge was nowhere to be seen. The room was dark. There was something at one end, something that looked like some kind of... window. But it was covered, leaving the room in almost complete darkness. But then the room began slowly lighting up, the window's cover moving to reveal the room. There were white butterflies in every corner, and Chloé lifted her arms to cover her head, wincing when one came near her hair. In the centre of the room was a small table, and on the table, a box.

 

Chloé smiled. This was Hawkmoth's lair. She moved to the centre, reaching for the box and flipping it open. _The ring._ Adrien's ring- the ring she'd seen so many times but never really _noticed_.

 

She quickly detransformed, shoved the ring into her bag before her kwami could notice, and transformed again in record time. 

 

_Perfect._

 

Now to find her way out of this dump.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnnn!
> 
> Well, that was number twelve! I'm pretty excited to get the rest of this out, I honestly can't wait til it's done tbh :P 
> 
> I'm protectchatnoir on tumblr if ya wanna find me there, and I also have pinterest! The username there is kittychatnoir, same as here. Feel free to let me know what you think, I love hearing what you guys think about my writing :P And you can also check out my other fics if ya wanna! My main (ish) focuses at the minute are this one and I See Right Through You, my voltron ghost hunting AU. But i have other miraculous fics too, mostly random AUs xD and also a Monster High fic if you're in MH.   
> Anyways, hope ya liked this chapter, and have a great day!! :D


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND I'M BACK!
> 
> sorry that it's been a while since I updated. I kinda got writer's block and then... well, then I got distracted 
> 
> So this chapter and next chapter we kinda have the angst again but it's not as bad I swear xD and it hopefully gets better after. I really wanna get the rest of Think Twice up so hopefully the rest will be up by the end of May at the latest. My goal for completing the fic is October, coz then it'll be a whole year since I started this. Part three will hopefully go back to the old Monday Friday schedule ;D

Chapter Thirteen 

 

When Marinette arrived at the Agreste mansion, she was already dressed in her Ladybug costume. It looked surprisingly realistic; nobody would know that she wasn't really Ladybug. Wow, that was a strange thought. _She wasn't Ladybug anymore._

But Tikki had told her before that she _was_ Ladybug, with or without the mask- and that's what Marinette remembered as she made her way through the groups of people, towards Adrien. Naturally, some of the party guests saw the spotted superhero, cheering and drawing Adrien's attention. 

 He grinned when he saw her. 

'Ladybug!' Adrien exclaimed with a smile as she reached him. 'I wasn't sure if you'd be able to make it or not. I'm so glad you did!'

 

'Of course! Adrien, I wouldn't miss it for the world. And it's so nice to see you, you know, outside of- um, it's nice to see you with your friends again.' Ladybug gestured towards Alix and Nino who stood behind him.

 

His smile faltered. 'Yeah. It's nice. I mean, it's amazing to see everybody again! It's just... Marinette isn't here. I was really hoping to see her.'

 

'Oh! Well, I'm sure she'll turn up. Maybe she has a good reason for being late?'

 

_Like dressing up as her ex-alter ego because she promised (and to take Hawkmoth's eye off the mission at hand)._

 

Adrien's smile returned. 'Yes, I'm sure she does. Marinette is amazing- she's always doing something creative or, well, just wonderful.'

 

She felt herself start to blush. 'Um, yeah! So I've heard. I gotta, uh, go get something to eat! Yeah. So, um, have fun tonight, okay? I'll probably see you in a bit.'

 

'Okay! Enjoy the party. And... thanks again. For turning up.'

 

With a nod, Marinette made her way through the crowd again towards a small storage room and changing into her regular clothes.

 

(Although it did take her a minute to work out why her usual "spots off" wasn't working.)

 

On the way back out towards Adrien, she absent-mindedly stuffed her purse full of cookies for Tikki before she remembered that she didn't have to do that. Not anymore.

 

Hell, she was going to miss Tikki.

 

She already was.

 

Marinette missed Tikki even more than she missed being Ladybug. 

 

But she had to keep reminding herself: she had made the right decision.

 

***

 

'I'm back!'

 

Rena screamed. 'What the heck?!'

 

'Shut up, you're going to get us caught!' Queen Bee hissed.

 

'Oh, it's you. Where did you go?'

 

'No idea. The floor swallowed me.'

 

Rena Rouge shook her head in disbelief. 'Okay. But how?'

 

'I don't know,' Bee retorted. 'I hit the portrait and then the floor moved.'

 

'Okay. Can you do it again?'

 

She pressed her hands against the painting, but nothing happened. They sighed in unison.

 

'So... did you see anything interesting? Did you find Adrien's ring?' Rena asked. 

 

'No, I didn't find the ring. But I ended up in this weird lair with a load of, like, butterflies.'

 

'Oh. So that basically erases all doubt of Gabriel being Hawkmoth. I wonder where the ring is, though?'

 

'I don't know, okay?' she snapped, desperate to get back home and hide the ring. Okay, it was probably kind of bad stealing the ring and hiding it from her superhero partner, but Chloé _needed_ that ring. She didn't want to be some lame bee superhero. If she could be the new Chat Noir- well, that would change everything. 'Let's get out of here before we blow our cover. We need to drop our transformations and leave.'

 

'Hello? You're not the leader here, Bee. Mari- _Ladybug_ chose me first. That makes me superior.'

 

'Yeah, maybe, maybe not. I don't think this is safe. Plus, we need to find Marinette and report back. And it'll look weird if we- Chloé and Alya, I mean- don't make another appearance. Let's go.'

 

'Fine!' Rena replied. 'Fine. We can go.'

 

***

 

'Adrien! Hi. Um, welcome back!'

 

He was talking to Rose and Juleka when he first heard her voice. 

 

_He knew that voice._

 

Something in the back of his mind told him that it was _her._

 

Adrien turned around, as Rose and Juleka moved away to dance. He saw her, and smiled.

 

 _It feels good to smile again,_ he thought to himself for at least the twelfth time that evening. 

 

'Marinette! You made it! I'm so glad, you have no idea- when I- I missed you so much.'

 

Marinette returned his smile and swayed on her feet awkwardly. 

'Yeah, I know- I mean, I... I didn't because- uh, it's good to see you. Again. Not that I've seen you recently. Which I haven't, because-, what I mean to say is, yeah. I missed you too.'

 

That was Marinette, alright.

 

_But then, it wasn't._

 

He'd thought about meeting her again for a long time; he remembered her. He'd looked forward to seeing her.

 

 _But then, he wasn't seeing_ her.

Then, he was seeing someone else.

Someone he'd already seen that evening. 

Someone with the same dark hair and blue- _bluebell eyes._

_And then the memories where back._

 

The doctors had told him that he would remember things slowly but surely, but this, _this-_

 

This was like floodgates breaking, suddenly and unexpectedly. The memories were the flood, and Adrien was drowning.

 

_He was Adrien. Adrien Agreste. A famous model; a good student; the perfect son._

_He was also Chat Noir: a superhero. Lifesaver. The one person Ladybug could always rely on._

 

'That's why you visited me at the hospital,' Adrien whispered, hardly daring to admit it to himself. 'You wanted Chat back.'

 

He dropped his drink. The glass shattered and the floor, slicing through the music and chatter and everyone was looking at him-

 

 _Everyone was looking at him._ Everyone.

 

Including Marinette.

 

_Ladybug._

_No, no, no, too much._

 

He closed his eyes to stop the room from spinning.

 

 _We should've bought plastic cups,_ Adrien thought as he passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T_T why do I do this
> 
> For real tho, chapter fifteen is like a turning point I guess.
> 
> But next chapter... um, buckle your seatbelts.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys please excuse this chapter 
> 
> This is obviously a kinda chaotic nonsense chapter. If you can understand it, good job!! :) lol   
> Anyway tho this is hopefully the last angsty one in part two. There isn't any new angst, just revisiting the old stuff.
> 
> Also, minor injuries from falling on glass but it isn't described graphically or anything so it should be fine 
> 
> Enjoy!! :D (or, um, try to)

Chapter Fourteen

 

Memories- they were there. everywhere, nowhere, here, gone.

 

Before, after, _now_. And yet not.

 

Confusion.

 

_She kissed him._

 

That day, in the rain, and again when they got icecream (after he fell asleep, in her lap, on the roof) and another time, on the balcony- but that time he was Adrien, not Chat Noir- the confusion, was it real? did she love him, did she care, was she playing with his feelings, _of course she wasn't, of course she wouldn't-_ taking time away from him afterwards, something like four days, she'd avoid him, he got up early to try and catch her to no avail. and one time Marinette saw him. gave him croissants- the reflection in the window, oh, he looked awful- and later that day he messed up. He messed up that day. he thanked her for the croissants, at school, as adrien- not Chat Noir. Now, she was already suspicious, but that confirmed it. she gave chat noir croissants and adrien agreste thanked her for them, oh, he messed up. that day. he messed up.

but more so before. two weeks before, before the first time in hospital.

 

_Elfena, he remembered-_

 

he hit his head on the pavement and it hurt but he shook it off, pretended like it was nothing. she hit him too, with fire. _They cut his hair, shaved the burnt part-_ and the girl, Elfena, Elena, he remembered, the girl- her mother had... died? Yes, that was right, he thought. Though it wasn't so clear, that day. He was hurt. and then he kicked an old bicycle and after that, there had been people- _Marinette, and Alya, yes, that was right-_ but then he'd woken up, and it was later (two weeks later, he remembered) and _that._ That was when she started to suspect him. but he tried not to mess up. He really did

 

But well before that- oh, he messed up. He. Really. Did.

Marinette told him that she had feelings for him. That was a very distant memory. Well before any of this started. She told him and he told her that he liked someone else. That someone else was ladybug but she was ladybug but how was he to know that oh what a mess

 

and after that. It was mostly confusion, and Marinette. Marinette. Marinette, marinette. She looked after him, she knew, she knew he was chat noir she knew he messed up but she forgave and she was ladybug. maybe he knew at some point but that was unclear. but that, that, that was Marinette looking after him marinette was ladybug. She looked after him. His lady. his Lady, his Ladybug. Ladybug. _Marinette._

 

And then, bad, bad things.

 

He was... sad? Angry? too many emotions to count and he saw the butterfly (evil, dark thing) too late and then, _then,_ now, this bit, he didn't remember _as much-_

 

But he was under its control. 

 

Darkness.

 

That's what Hawkmoth called him, he thought- "Darkness". Maybe he wasn't remembering correctly, but it felt about right:

Just fading from something to nothing. shadows, and then he had hurt someone. More than one person, maybe: lots hurt, he remembered the black ink of the marker shining in his non-existent light, the sunlight making the ink... not just black (but pink, and blue, and green, and purple. colours. not a nice rainbow like light on a mirror; nasty, bad, _contaminated,_ oil on a puddle. bad.) and then the single line was more. maybe still one line a huge scribble of _death_ but yet more than one, like a death toll, numbers _everywhere,_  the people he'd hurt.

They're safe again. it's ok

but is _he?_

 

the memories were so much, too much, everywhere, everything, and then nothing.

 

nothing but darkness, or Darkness, as he was perhaps once called, when he hurt all those people- but maybe not,

 

Maybe it was just dark.

 

And then, light.

 

Not warm, sunshine light. Not the kind that makes the rainbow on the mirror.

A cold, white light, like before, 

Like a bright, bright laboratory with cold, cold steel and light and-

 

Perhaps it was more of a cold light like the aura of a man in a fashionable white jacket. 

 

 

Or, maybe (just maybe) it was the cold light which he was so familiar with now: the reminder of bad food and clean linen; the memory of a piano; the reminiscent and yet long forgotton (and somehow ever present) smell of disinfectant and-

 

_hospital._

 

When Adrien Agreste's eyes opened, he was back in the hospital. 

 

 _An excellent start,_ he thought. 

 

He had no idea what kind of dire situation he was in this time, but he knew it probably wouldn't get any worse than it was right now.

 

That is, until he saw his father sitting next to his bed.

 

'I stand corrected,' Adrien muttered through gritted teeth.

 

'Ah, Adrien. You're awake.'

 

'Father. I'm fine, please, don't make me stay here. Take me back home.'

 

His father gave a somehow unamused chuckled. 'Now, now, Adrien, you mustn't jump to conclusions. We don't intend to keep you here.'

 

'Then why am I back-'

 

'At your "welcome home" party, you passed out. Now, I'm hardly surprised- all that excitement when you'd only just returned home was certainly not advisable. I imagine you must have been terribly exhausted.'

 

There was a touch of sympathy in his dad's voice. He hadn't heard that for a long time.

 

And then he remembered, again- shouting curse words at his father,  _oh,_  that wasn't very nice.

 

'I... suppose I was pretty tired.'

 

'The only reason you are here now is because you fell on top of some broken glass.'

 

Adrien winced. Oh. _That_ wasn't very nice. 

 

'They managed to remove it all; the doctors say that you can return home as soon as you feel up to it.'

 

'Father?'

 

'Yes?'

 

'I'm sorry for... before. When I shouted at you, that was- that wasn't- I'm sorry. That was really rude. I was so confused and scared and I didn't remember anything, and... I took it out on you. I'm sorry.'

 

His dad smiled slightly, and shook his head. 'You always did have quite a temper. You take after your mother.'

 

'Can you tell me about Ladybug and Chat Noir?'

 

_'Pardon?'_

 

'Ladybug and Chat Noir. What do you know about them?'

 

'Not a great deal. They used to be on television a lot. I met them once or twice.'

 

'Are they good people?' Adrien asked.

 

'Good- good people?'

Gabriel's face softened. 'I... suppose I never really considered it. Behind the masks, you mean? I... I suppose they're only young, and innocent. But they go against everything I've- your mother would-'

 

His face was unreadable again (and that cold light was back) as he stood up.

'Well, that's enough questions for now. I'll fetch a doctor to assess you and then we will be leaving.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I know this seems like an eight year old wrote a story using autocorrect and recommended words but honestly this was really hard. It took me like six years lmao
> 
> Anyway xD hope you liked this chapter!! As always, go shoot me an ask or message on tumblr (@protectchatnoir) if ya wanna chat! :)


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! I'm here,,, I have arrived  
> Anyway, if you're reading this then I just wanna take a sec to say THANK YOU because we're getting towards the end of part two!! I'm not sure abt part three. I mean, there might be one. There probably will! I hope there will xD
> 
> But if I do, my goal is to get it out by October. My goal for pt2 is the end of May, but it'll probably be the end of April at this rate. Also, pt3 (when/if i post it) will have a nice biweekly schedule so no long waits like there are here sometimes xD  
> Anyway, hope ya like this chapter!! ;D

Chapter Fifteen 

 

When Chloé got home, she put the ring on. There was a flash of green light as the miraculous' kwami appeared.

'Who are you? Oh, you're that Bourgeois girl- but where's Adrien? What are you doing here? How did you get his ring? Is he okay?'

 

'Shh! Someone will hear! Be quiet. Adrien's fine. Well, he was taken to hospital last night after fainting and falling on broken glass but he's okay.'

 

'He did _what?'_

 

'Look, I don't make the rules here. The point is, he doesn't remember that he's Chat Noir. So I'm going to be the new Chat.' Chloé took the bee comb out of her hair and placed it carefully back in the box. 

 

'What's your name again? And what do I say to transform?'

 

'I'm Plagg, and you say "claws out", oh, damn it, I didn't want to tell you that but I have to because apparently you're the new weilder- _stop!_  Kid, you could get hurt. You're not a chosen black cat. You have to stop!'

 

Chloé didn't listen. 'You have to answer to me, right? Well, don't worry, this is only until I can get my hands on the Ladybug earrings. That's the real prize here. So you're going to help me, mkay?'

 

'No, wait-!'

 

'Plagg, claws out!'

 

***

 

'You think he'll be okay?'

 

Alya sat on the couch as her friend paced retlessly. 'He'll be fine, girl. Adrien's tough- he's been through hell. He can deal with a bit of broken glass.'

 

'But what if that little bit of glass is like, the last straw and it just pushes him over the edge and he is totally not okay?!'

 

'Marinette, calm down,' Alya sighed. 'You are being way over dramatic. He will be fine.'

She heard a quiet "ping!" from inside her bag, and pulled her phone out.

'Oh, would you look at that? It's a text from Nino. He says that Adrien's totally fine and he just got back home!'

 

'You're lying!' Mari exclaimed, and moved over to the couch, snatching Alya's phone. 'Let me see that! Adrien's totally fine... and he just got.. back home. Oh, I guess you weren't lying, huh?'

 

Alya laughed. 'Well, duh. Hey, do you think Gabriel will akumatise someone soon?'

 

'Alya, we still aren't certain that Gabriel is Hawkmoth.'

 

'Yes, we are! Chloé found a lair! We have all the evidence we need!'

 

'I know, but...'

Marinette sighed. 'Adrien.'

 

'Adrien?'

 

'He'll be heartbroken when he finds out.'

 

'Ah. Don't worry, Marinette. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.'

 

'Okay.' She smiled. 'Thanks, Alya. But... I don't know what happened. I mean, he looked at me. We spoke for like a minute and then- then he said something about me visiting him at the hospital. _He knows._  He knows I'm Ladybug. And he knows that _he's_ Chat Noir.'

 

Alya bit her lip. 'Yeah, but... the doctors did say he'd remember stuff eventually, right?'

 

'I guess so, I just-'

 

'Well, maybe "eventually" is just sooner than we thought it would be?'

 

'Maybe.' Marinette sighed. 'I just don't want him to have to deal with superhero responsibilities again. Not if it's going to be harmful to him. I don't want to hurt him anymore. We have to find the cat miraculous and give it to Master Fu for safekeeping.'

 

***

 

'Wow, this is the weirdest manicure I've ever had. How do I, like, not hurt myself with these weird claw things?'

The kwami- Plagg, right?- didn't respond. Chloé gave an exasperated growl and lifted her feet to look at her shoes.

'Hmm, they're a little too "combat boot" for moi, but I suppose I can cope until I get my hands on those ladybug earrings.'

 

She turned around to admire her reflection in the full length mirror opposite. 

 

Chloé smiled. She looked _fabulous_.

 

'Okay, claws in.' The transformation dropped. She turned to the kwami. 'I'm not going to make an appearance as the new Chat Noir yet. I'll wait until Alya and Marinette have given up searching for the ring. Then I'll be Paris' most beloved superhero! It's the perfect plan.'

 

'I literally could not care less.'

 

'Ugh, rude! I'm amazing, and you just can't handle that. Well, it's time you took a cat nap.' Chloé slipped the ring off her finger. She placed the ring in its box, and with a cry of protest, Plagg disappeared.

 

***

 

Adrien sat on the stairs, doing nothing in particular, just taking in his surroundings. 

_It was different now. Now that he..._

 

_remembered._

 

His hand felt unnatural and uncomfortable without his ring.

 

 _Where was it?_  He had to find it.

He missed going on patrols and fighting with Ladybug. He missed Plagg. And... Adrien missed being Chat Noir. 

When had he last transformed? It had been weeks- no, months. 

 

Adrien had to get his ring back. Maybe his father had taken it? He could ask about it- but what if his dad made the connection between Chat Noir's disappearance and his time in hospital? Nobody could know his identity, not even his father, not-

 

 _Marinette_. Ladybug.

Marinette knew. She knew he was Chat Noir. She could help him.

 

A loud knock on the front door interrupted his thoughts; Adrien made his way down the stairs and opened it.

 

It was Marinette. Her eyes widened, as did his.

 

'Adrien! I, uh, wanted to- well, I didn't know if I should...' She looked away. 'The gate was open. I wasn't sure if I should do the intercom thingy or...'

 

He smiled and opened the door wider. 'It's fine! You can come in, if you want.'

 

'Thanks, but I can't stay for very long. I just wanted to stop by to see if you're doing okay after the party. And to, uh, see if there's anything I can do to help.'

 

_This girl is amazing._

 

Beneath her words, Adrien heard an unspoken question.

'You want to know how much I remember.' He stepped outside and closed the door behind him. 'I don't have long; I'm not really supposed to be leaving the house yet. Marinette, I remember everything. When I saw you at the party... it all came back to me. Listen, we need to get my ring back. If it falls into the wrong hands...'

 

Marinette's mouth fell open and she let out a gasp.

 _'You mean..?'_ she whispered. _'Chat Noir?'_

 

He moved closer to Marinette and engulfed her in a powerful hug. 'Ladybug.' He grinned. 'I'm back.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T_T he's back
> 
> YIKES I had to format this twice coz my phone died :( :(  
> xD anyway! Have a nice day!!!! :)
> 
> (P.s. sorry that this chapter is kinda short and also jumps around a lot! There's obviously things going on in different places so I'm kinda,,, hopping around I guess xD)


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi
> 
> This is a fun chapter i guess, there's some arguing because ANGST MWAHAHA but it's mostly ok
> 
> (I don't even know lol)  
> Enjoy!!!! ;D

 

Chapter Sixteen

 

There were tears in her eyes as she pulled away. 

'I'm afraid we're too late. Adrien, your ring... Hawkmoth has it.'

 

As he processed her words, Adrien shook his head. 'No. No, you're wrong, he can't- _he can't!'_

 

Marinette moved back in for another hug, holding him tightly. 'It's okay. We will get it back.'

 

'Just tell me what's going on.'

 

She took a deep breath. 'Listen, Adrien. I made some really bad decisions before, and they ended up getting you in hospital. I can't drag you into this mess; I'm the one who messed everything up. I'll fix it. I can't hurt you like that again.'

 

'M'Lady. Whilst I appreciate your concern, _things are different now._ I can take care of myself.'

 

_There was Chat._

 

'I promise. What happened before... that wasn't your fault. You did what you thought was right. But this time, it's my decision. I won't let you face. Hawkmoth on your own.'

 

'Adrien, you have to listen to me,' she pleaded. 'I know who Hawkmoth is. But just by _telling_ you his identity, you could get seriously-'

 

Marinette squeaked in surprise as Adrien broke their contact and stepped backwards. His face was serious and- _angry_.

'It's my father, isn't it?'

 

'What?' she gasped. 'Why would-'

 

'It's been him all along, hasn't it? _Oh,_  I can't believe this!'

 

'Adrien, how did you-?'

 

He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head sadly. 'When I went into hospital, he took my ring. It's the only reasonable explanation, right? And- of course, you wouldn't want to tell me that my dad is _literally evil-_ because that would be pretty mentally damaging. Right? Marinette, am I right?'

 

Marinette bit her lip and met his eyes. She nodded reluctantly. 'Adrien, please, don't get involved with this. You're still recovering. You need a break! Please don't do this.'

 

'I'm sorry. But I can't sit back and watch you fight a losing battle. I'm going to be by your side from now on.'

 

'Adrien-'

 

'I have to be. Please. I can't just go back to how it was before. My life before Chat Noir was hard. Being Chat Noir is hard, sure, but it's _everything_ to me. Marinette... _you_ are everything to me. I can't let you do this on your own.'

 

Frowning, Marinette reached up to fiddle absent-mindedly with her earrings. _They weren't there._  Oh.

'Oh, Adrien. I'm not on my own. Alya and Chloé each have a miraculous now. But... I turned mine in. Every decision I made was awful. I didn't deserve it.'

 

'No. No, no! No. No!'

 

'I'm sorry. I had to do it!'

 

'No, you don't understand! Maybe you made some bad decisions, but giving back your miraculous? That's going to get someone killed!' 

Adrien was shouting now. 'Maybe you _don't deserve it,_  maybe you do, but that isn't isn't you to decide! Maybe you don't deserve it. But you need it. You need it.'

 

'I'm sorry, Adrien! But I couldn't keep going after everything that happened! I couldn't disrupt your recovery any-'

 

_'Shut up about my fucking recovery!_ I don't want your help, or your sympathy. I want to save the world. I _need_ to save the world!'

 

Marinette sighed. 'You need time,' she said, keeping her voice calm.

 

'Time is something I do not have, Marinette. How about if the roles where switched, huh? If you had just gotten out of hospital and your partner, your friend- _the person you love._ Imagine you've just returned after being away for months and you found out that your dad is a supervillain and you need to fight- but you don't have your earrings, and I'd given away my ring. I don't- you have to think twice about this! Maybe you wanna go all martyr on me and sacrifice your miraculous because you made some bad choices, and that's fine. Sacrifice your earrings, whatever, I don't care. Just, for God's sake, save the world first.'

 

_He was right._  Maybe she didn't deserve to be Ladybug anymore. Maybe she had made the right decision. But Paris needed Ladybug. Chat Noir needed Ladybug.

 

_Adrien needed her._

 

'Okay. Okay. I'm sorry, you're right. I did what I thought was right. I still think it was the right choice, but you're right. I have to fix everything else first. Okay, I'll get my earrings back, and then we'll find your ring.' 

 

***

 

Chloé flicked the box open again, and Plagg appeared, looking even more sick and dizzy than the last eight times.

'Lady, you have _got_  to stop doing that. Open the box or close it, just stop summoning me every three seconds!'

 

'Whatever, I need advice. So, I'm totally going to be Ladybug! It's going to be awesome, I'm really excited! But to get the earrings, I'm going to need to be Chat Noir for a while.'

 

'I've said it before and I'll say it again. I literally do not care. Either get me some cheese or let me sleep in piece.'

 

'Anyway, once I'm Ladybug I'll need, like, a sidekick or something. But I don't know who to choose!'

 

Plagg glared at her. 'Listen, lady, you're never going to be a superhero. You never earned it.'

 

'Ridiculous! I'm, like, already double a superhero. I have two of these miraculous thingies now, and I'm going to get those earrings!'

 

'Nah, I doubt that. But I might reconsider if you get me some camembert.'

 

Chloé sniffed. 'What? That's- will you agree to help me if I give you cheese?'

 

'Yep, pretty much.'

 

She left the room. 

Although Plagg would have normally been tempted with the promise of cheese, he had to get back to Adrien.

 

_He had to get back to Adrien._

 

So the second Chloé was out of sight, Plagg picked up the ring and escaped out of the window.

 

Now, technically, he had to do what Chloé said now. But she wasn't a chosen holder of the ring, so it was easy enough to leave without being tied down by the spiritual connection between kwami and holder.

 

Once outside, Plagg made his way down the street- occasionally ducking out of sight behind lampposts and the like when somebody walked past- and back home again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you have a nice day and hope you liked it and stuff!!! :D I'm protecthatnoir on tumblr if ya wanna chat!!! :)  
> Also #conflicted because Marinette giving up the earrings was a good choice but also,,,, like,, savin the world is a good choice too so *shrug*
> 
> Also sorry if the formatting on this one looks weird. I'm on mobile and it's ten p.m. so idk lol


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here we are, number seventeen. We're nearing the end now :)  
> Hope you like this chapter!! :D

Chapter Seventeen 

 

'Thank you, M'Lady,' he whispered. 'Thank you for everything. You have no idea h-'

 

_'Adrien!'_

Marinette and Adrien looked up in surprise as somebody shouted his name. A small, _cat like_ somebody who barreled into Adrien at full force, knocking him over backwards.

'I missed you, I missed you, I missed you, I missed you, I missed you! Oh, kid, I missed you so much, when I heard you were in hospital I was so worried, I mean, I know I complain a lot and- to be fair, you have a really bad taste in cheese- but I love you and I missed you so, so much and I'm so glad that you're okay!'

 

It took him a moment to process I before his face split with a wide grin. 'Plagg! What are you- how-? My ring!'

His mouth fell open. 'How did you-?'

 

'That Chloé girl woke me up. Dunno how she got the ring, though. But that doesn't matter. I'm back now!' The kwami dropped the ring into Adrien's hand, and he slipped it onto his finger. He wiggled his fingers experimentally and smiled. 

'That's better,' Adrien whispered.

 

Marinette watched with wide eyes. 'But- Chloé? Ugh, I knew I shouldn't have trusted her! I can't believe this! She got the miraculous and didn't tell us? I can't believe it!'

 

'Believe it,' Plagg muttered. 'That kid is insane.' The kwami's face softened. 'Marinette! It's been a while.'

 

She smiled. 'It sure has.'

 

'Where's Tikki?' he asked hopefully. 

 

'With Master Fu. I returned my miraculous. It felt right at the time, but I need it back. That's our next stop.'

 

'Hey, Plagg?' Adrien said thoughtfully. 'You came back.'

 

'Yeah, I did. Yeah, kid, I guess I did.'

 

'Well, it's made our jobs considerably easier. Now all we have to do is get my earrings. Adrien, are you sure you want to-?'

 

'Yes. I'm sure.'

 

'And you're sure I can't change-'

 

'You can't change my mind, Buginette.' He gave her hand an affectionate squeeze, and Plagg pretended to throw up. 

'Gross! Cut it out.'

 

Adrien laughed, but his expression quickly switched to a frown. 'Mari, aren't you going to confront Chloé about taking the ring?'

 

She shook her head. 'Maybe at some point. But for now we have to focus on the plan.'

 

'Okay. That's fine. What is the plan?' Adrien asked doubtfully.

 

'The plan? Oh, the usual.'

 

'Just winging it?'

 

'Absolutely.'

 

'Awesome! Well, I know you could probably use the moral support going to get your earrings, but I should get back into the house. My father will start wondering where I am soon.'

 

'Say no more,' Marinette responded with a fond smile. 'Don't worry, I can handle it on my own.'

 

'Okay then. Plagg, will you go with Marinette? Dad will probably notice if I'm wearing the ring, so it's best if it stays out of the house for now.'

 

 

***

 

 

Marinette glanced at her hand anxiously. 

'Are you sure it's okay for me to be wearing this?'

 

'Sure, as long as you don't transform.'

 

'But before-'

 

'Before,' Plagg interrupted, 'you had the earrings too. That much power can corrupt pretty much anyone. Don't worry, kid, it won't hurt you.'

 

'Okay.' They walked a few metres in silence before Marinette gathered the courage to ask a question that had been on her mind for a long time now. 'Plagg? So, when I used the cat miraculous before, there was some, like... dark energy or something, that went into my body before. Right?'

 

'When you used the ring, some negative energy was transferred to your source energy store, yes.'

 

'Okay. I still don't really get that, but okay. So... is it still there? The negative energy, I mean.'

 

'It's been a few months. Things should mostly be back to normal. There might be a slight energy imbalance in your body, with a little too much bad energy, but it shouldn't affect you too much. You're not having too many negative emotions, are you?'

 

'No, not anymore,' Marinette answered. 'I was before. Back when Adrien went into hospital. But not anymore.'

 

'Okay, that's good then.'

 

'What about the miraculous? The cataclysm was broken, right?'

 

'It's had some time to heal. Should be restored by now. Hopefully.' The kwami nudged her shoulder. 'We're here.'

 

Marinette knocked on the door and opened it.

 

'Ah, Marinette,' Master Fu exclaimed. 'I did not expect to see you again so soon.'

There was a subtle hint of question in his tone, and Marinette wasted no time with answering.

'I need my miraculous back. Okay, I know that I definitely made the right decision, but Adrien is back. Like, _really_ back. He remembers _everything_. And he has his ring back. Actually, I have it at the minute because Adrien's dad would probably notice that he got his ring back, but the point it, he basically has it. But I don't want him to get involved and I think it's too dangerous for him to become Chat Noir again but he's very insistent and he won't take no for an answer but Gabriel Agreste is Hawkmoth and he had the ring but we got it back, but we need to take him down before anyone else gets hurt. If we could just get his miraculous, Paris would be safe. But I can't defeat Hawkmoth without my earrings. I know I totally don't deserve it but I'll bring them back once we have cleaned up this crazy mess but I really need my miraculous back.'

 

Master Fu nodded thoughtfully. 'Marinette, I supported your decision before- not because I thought you didn't deserve the miraculous, but because having the ladybug miraculous activated without the cat miraculous can be dangerous. The earth's energy wasn't balanced. You have always, and always will, deserve the miraculous. I chose you for a reason.'

Her eyes widened. 'What do you mean?'

 

'I mean that you are Ladybug, whether you wear the earrings or not. I have said it before, and it is still nothing less than the truth. I believe in you, Marinette. And now that the cat miraculous is in use once more...' He moved across the room and returned with the box which contained her earrings.

'Your friends should keep the bee and fox miraculous. If you truly plan to take down Hawkmoth, you will need all the help you can get.' Smiling, Master Fu placed the box in her hand.

Marinette gasped. 'Really? I mean... you aren't going to tell me that it's too dangerous, or I'm not worthy, or something?'

He laughed quietly. 'You will always be worthy, Marinette. And yes, it will be dangerous. But I know that you can do this. I do have one warning though: don't try and protect Adrien. This is his battle as much as it is yours. I understand that you want to keep him safe, but this is something he has to do.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DON'T TRY AND PROTECT HIM MARI. LISTEN TO MASTER FU


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so here we are at chapter eighteen!  
> I wanna say sorry in advance just in case this chapter seems a little weird. See, I kinda got writer's block with this one, and then my phone broke and I lost it, but then I got it back and I rewrote some parts... but I just wasn't feeling it. Idk, it might be fine, it just doesn't seem quite right to me, but nevermind. Either way, this chapter's kinda important coz we're building up to the end of this work, so it will have to do.  
> Anyway, hope you like this chapter! :)

 

Chapter Eighteen 

 

'Knock knock!' Adrien called as he opened Marinette's skylight. Marinette had returned his ring the day before, and the two of them had decided to meet, to discuss plans. They'd be taking Hawkmoth down in two days.

She glanced up from where she sat on the bed, chatting with Tikki. 'Shush, Kitty, my parents will hear you,' she said with a smile as Adrien moved backwards to give her enough space to climb out of the window.

 

'Tikki, spots on!' she cried as soon as she was out. A flash of pink light filled the darkness of the night, and Ladybug stood in Marinette's place. He grinned. Adrien wouldn't get tired of that. Seeing Marinette transform into Ladybug. It was just... it just felt _right._  Reminding him that two of his amazing friends were one in the same.

 

'You ready to go?' Ladybug asked, and he nodded. 'Are you sure you-'

 

'M'Lady, I'm _coming with you._  There's no way I will let you do something like this without me.'

 

'Okay, but... you don't have to do-'

 

He raised an eyebrow. 'How many times do I have to tell you? If we're going to do this, we're going to do it together. Plus, tonight is just planning, remember?'

 

She nodded reluctantly. 'Okay. Sorry, I know it's annoying, I just... I want you to be safe.'

 

Adrien smiled. 'You're not being annoying. I get it, really. But even if my father's Hawkmoth, I don't think he'll try to hurt me. Anyway, we have time. We're not taking him down tonight, right? Just getting ready. We're not jumping into a dangerous situation for, like, two whole days.'

 

'I know, I know. But tonight is really important. We need to go meet Chloé and Alya and discuss our plan.'

 

'Are you sure we trust Chloé after she took my ring?' he asked.

 

Ladybug shrugged. 'We don't really have a choice. Plus, we still don't know _why_  she did that. There might be a good reason behind it. And anyway, we'll just have Rena and Bee for backup, in case something goes wrong, okay? So... how does it feel to be Chat Noir again?'

 

Adrien grinned. 'It feels great. How about you? How does it feel to be Ladybug again?'

 

She laughed. 'It's only been a few days since I gave up my miraculous, so it doesn't really feel any different. But... I'm glad you're back, Chat. Even if I'd rather you stayed safe.'

 

'Ladybug. I'm coming with you. Whether you like it or not. Let's go find the others and talk through our plans.'

 

 

***

 

 

When Ladybug knocked on the window, Alya looked up from her homework and waved to the two superheroes outside.

'Hey!' she said, opening the window. 'Wow, would you look at that. Ladybug and Chat Noir.' Alya grinned and stepped aside so they could enter her room.

 

'Yeah, it's been a while, but it feels good to be back in business,' Chat Noir replied with a smile. 'So, I heard someone got their hands on a miraculous?'

She laughed and lifted the necklace to show him; he admired it with a nod.

 

'Spots off.' Ladybug's transformation dropped with a pink flash of light. 'Alya, I still can't believe you have all of our merchandise, you absolute nerd,' she said with a laugh as she moved over to look at Alya's shelves. 'Hey, Kitty, you dropping the transformation? Plagg should be saving his energy for the... big mission, right?'

 

'Yeah, you're right. Claws in.' A flash of green light filled the room. Adrien stood in Chat Noir's place. Alya shook her head- it was still a little weird to think that they were the same person. He then whispered something to his kwami before slipping him a piece of cheese.

 

'So, when is "the big mission"?' Alya asked. 'And... Adrien, are you sure you want to-'

Adrien groaned. 'Not you, too. She's asked if I'm sure I want to come at least eighteen times now.' Adrien scowled at Marinette, who patted his shoulder affectionately. 

'I know, I know. We're just worried about you. But we'll shut up now, right Alya?'

 

'Absolutely. So... what's the plan?'

 

Adrien sat down on her bed. 'There isn't one. We're just going to rush in and attack.'

 

'Very funny.' Alya turned to Marinette. 'What's the plan?'

 

She didn't answer.

'Oh, my god. He wasn't joking. You literally have no plan.' Alya sighed. 'That is a _terrible_ plan.'

 

'We don't really have a choice. Whatever we plan to do, Hawkmoth will be one step ahead of us. We need to rush in without warning,' Marinette stated. 'We need to take him by surprise.'

 

'Element of surprise. Got it. Well, at least that's _part_ of a plan.'

 

'I'm going in first with Marinette,' Adrien added. 'You and Chloé will wait a little way away, and we'll call for backup if we need it.'

 

 _'What?'_  Alya cried.

 

'I said-'

 

'I heard what you said! No way. That's stupid. I'm coming with you.'

 

'Alya. Adrien is right, we need you to-'

 

'No! I won't let you rush in on your own.'

 

'We'll have each other,' Adrien said quietly.

 

Marinette took Alya's hands. 'You have to trust us, Alya. It won't be safe if we all go in together. You need to wait with Chloé until we send for you.'

 

'I can't believe you're still trusting her after everything she's done.' Alya folded her arms and leant against the wall. 'You could at _least_ call her out for her bullshit.'

 

'We don't have a choice. She deserves to be yelled at, sure, but that can wait. This can't. We can't do it without her,' Mari explained. 'Once Hawkmoth has been defeated, we can talk to Chloé. But for now, we focus.'

 

Alya nodded reluctantly. 'Okay. So, what is the plan? I mean, when are we going?'

 

Adrien stood up and paced up and down a little, turned in a circle and sat back down again. 'Day after tomorrow,' he finally said.

 

'That's soon,' Alya whispered. 'That's really soon. Are we prepared for this?'

 

Shrugging, Marinette pulled a cookie from her back and gave it to her kwami, who was insistently tugging her sleeve. 'We're as prepared as we can be. But there isn't much we can do. We're meeting at Adrien's in the evening. If things go smoothly, we'll confront Gabriel, get the butterly miraculous and go. That's if everything goes to plan. But-'

 

'But things might not go to plan,' Adrien finished. 'How certain are we that my father is Hawkmoth? I'd say about ninety nine percent. He might be reluctant to fight me. He probably doesn't want me to get hurt. So hopefully we can get the miraculous easily, without any...' 

He trailed off. 'This is my dad, guys. I don't want anybody to get hurt. But if that's what it comes to, so be it. I'm ready.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun dun 
> 
> So I'm kinda excited for posting the last two chapters. Chapter nineteen isn't that exciting but chapter twenty... Oh boy. *cries* 
> 
> Stuff happens in the last two chapters, and then I'm probably gonna leave you on a cliffhanger and then disappear for a while when I'm writing pt3 mwahahaha  
> Hopefully the next two chapters will be up in the next week :)  
> I'm protectchatnoir on tumblr if you wanna chat about this fic or miraculous in general! :D


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here we are! :)
> 
> Sjshdkekdn there isn't much to say here other than that.. I hope you like this chapter, and thank you so much for sticking with me this far.
> 
> *deep breaths*  
> Okay. Let's do this. Let's go.

Chapter Nineteen

 

Chloé wasn't expecting Ladybug and Chat Noir to turn up that night.

 _Marinette and Adrien,_ she reminded herself. 

 

They landed on her balcony silently and let themselves in through the glass doors. She didn't hear them until the door swung shut behind them.

 

'Ladybug! Chat Noir! Wh- what are you... _doing_ here?' 

 

 _So he had gotten the ring back._ When it had disappeared along with the kwami, Chloé had been... _concerned,_ to say the least. But it appeared that Chat Noir was back. Adrien. 

 

'We're going up against Hawkmoth in two days time,' he said. 'And you're coming with us. We need Queen Bee for this mission. You and Rena Rouge will wait in an empty building near the Agreste mansion. I already sent you the address. If the situation gets bad, we'll call the two of you in. Until then, you will stay put. Understood?'

 

'What? No, I... I don't understand. You mean... you want _me_  to come with you? Even after-'

 

'Even after you stole one of the most powerful weapons in the world?'

Ladybug's voice was harsh and accusing as she interrupted Chloé. It made her jump a little. This was _Marinette,_ and Chloé had no idea she could sound so angry and disappointed and- 

'If the ring had fallen into the wrong hands, the world could fall into chaos and you'd be to blame- like you are for most of Hawkmoth's akumas.'

 

Chloé felt tears start to form in her eyes. 'I'm sorry. I just wanted to-'

 

'I don't want to hear your lame excuses, Chloé.' The superhero rolled her eyes. 'You did something really stupid. You should feel-'

 

'Hey, now, Bug,' Chat Noir cut in. 'I thought we weren't going to do this right now? You know, the whole..?'

 

She sighed. 'You're right. I'm sorry. She just... I'm a little bit angry, that's all. But you're right. We can finish this after we have taken Hawkmoth down. Chloé, you're not off the hook, by the way. We are going to talk about this, but for now, we'll focus on the mission at hand. That's more important. Meet us at the address Adrien sent you. Prepare yourself; we might have to call you in if we can't handle it.'

Ladybug opened the balcony door and left the room, before swinging off the edge into the night. 

 

Chat Noir shrugged. 'Sorry. She's a little mad at you right now. But you can't exactly blame her. That was a bad move, Chlo.'

 

'I'm sorry for stealing your ring,' Chloé said quietly. 'I know it was stupid. And dangerous, and cowardly, and I know you probably don't want to hear any excuses either. I'm sorry. I really am. I... I just wanted people to love me as much as I love Ladybug.'

 

He stared at her thoughtfully for a moment before moving forwards to gather her into a hug.

'It's okay. Chloé, it's okay. And it's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. We're going to get through this. We're going to be okay.'

 

***

 

'Marinette, I thought you weren't going to scold Chloé today?'

 

'I'm sorry Tikki. I couldn't help myself.' Marinette groaned and buried her face in one of her pillows. 'I was just so... so angry!'

 

'Well, save your anger for Hawkmoth.' Her kwami patted her shoulder affectionately and sat down on the bed beside her. 'You're going to need it if things don't go to plan.'

 

'I don't want to fight him. Tikki, this is Gabriel Agreste we're talking about. _Adrien's father._  I don't want this to end with somebody getting hurt.'

 

Tikki sighed, and her voice shrank to a whisper. 'But you understand that protecting Paris- protecting _yourself-_ is more important?'

 

'Yes. Yes, I know.'

 

'Marinette, I want you to promise me something. Please. Promise me you won't try and protect Adrien. No matter what you do, don't stand in his way. Don't try and protect him.'

 

Marinette sat up and frowned. 'I don't understand. Master Fu asked the same of me. But why? We're partners. We're supposed to protect each other, right?'

 

Tikki shook her head urgently. 'Not this time! Marinette, you must not try to protect him! Please, trust me. Trust Master Fu. Kwamis can sometimes sense things like this. I have a terrible sense of foreboding, Marinette. Fight for yourself, and let Adrien do the same. Don't stand in his way, or someone might get hurt.'

 

'But Tikki, I don't understand! I mean, okay, I trust you, but...'

Marinette bit her lip nervously and frowned. 'Okay, I won't try to protect him. I promise.'

 

'Thank you.' Tikki gave a small sigh of relief. 'Thank you. Now, try and get some sleep. You have school in the morning, and you need to save your energy for the day after tomorrow.'

 

Marinette nodded and pulled the blanket over her. She lay silently in the darkness, her kwami snoring quietly next to her. 

 

But it was no use. She couldn't sleep now. Tikki's warning had made her feel... nervous. The kwami's words had reflected Master Fu's- but why didn't they want her to protect Adrien? That was basically her job as Ladybug, right? To look out for her partner? To have his back? That was the only thing Marinette wanted to do: look after Adrien. Chat Noir. And that was what she had been doing- or, trying to do, at least. 

 

Okay, so she'd made some kinda terrible decisions before the new year. But Marinette had made up her mind- she was going to protect Adrien no matter what. She wasn't very comfortable taking him on the upcoming mission, but it was what he wanted. Either way, she would have to look out for him, right? They were fighting together. They would defend each other. 

So why were both Tikki and Master Fu telling her she couldn't do that? It made no sense.

 

 _But hopefully we won't have to actually fight Hawkmoth,_ Marinette thought, casting an anxious glance upon her sleeping kwami. _With any luck, we'll be able to convince him to hand over the miraculous without any complications. With any luck, we won't have to fight him._

 

With any luck, no one would get hurt.

 

And luck was Ladybug's specialty. 

 

Even if they had been fresh out of luck lately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prepare yourself.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *deep breaths*
> 
> Okay. Wow. I can't believe we're here.
> 
> So first of all, thank you so much for reading this far! This is has been one crazy incredible journey for me, being technically my first fanfic and all, and... wow. Just... thank you. Now, this is the final chapter of this fic, but not the end of the Think Fast series! Which brings me onto my next point -
> 
> Second of all! There WILL be a part three. It won't be out for a while, though. I want to write it all before hand like I did with part one, and have a proper schedule (Mondays and Fridays!) unlike this one which was pretty random hahaha. So it might be a while. I could have chapter one of part three up by mid May, but I also want a bit of a break from this series, so whilst I will be writing it, I'll also be focused on other stuff too. So it's gonna be a few months probably. That said, I want the very last chapter out by the end of October, so part three will probably be released between May 1st and October 31st. We'll see! ;D 
> 
> THIRD OF ALL, look out for my new fic, The Butterfly Society. That's gonna be my main focus for a while!! :) I'll be uploading it within the next week!
> 
> Fourth of all, this chapter does contain some violence and fighting and stabby stabby stuff? It ain't graphic but the violentness(?) is there, so proceed with caution. 
> 
> FIFTH OF ALL, thank you again for coming this far. Whether you've been here ever since last October or if you're currently binge reading it at midnight, THANK YOU. (If it's the second one, fo get some sleep, for god's sake. Read the rest at breakfast.) Thanks for all your comments, support, positivity, here and on tumblr. Just... thank you :)
> 
>  
> 
> Well... let's do this.

Chapter Twenty

 

Marinette glanced at her phone anxiously.  _It was time._  And her parents had no idea. They had no idea that... if things went badly, this... this could be the last time they would see her.

'I should probably get going,' she said quietly.

 

'Okay, honey,' her mother replied. 'Make sure you didn't forget anything. Have you got your pyjamas?' 

 

'Yes, I have my pyjamas.' Fighting back tears, Marinette gave her a quick hug.

 

'Have a nice time at Alya's house,' her dad added, joining the hug.

 

'I will. Thank you.' She opened the door and stepped outside before turning back to face her parents. 'Goodbye,' Marinette said solemnly. 

Tom and Sabine exchanged a quizzical glance at her grave tone, but shrugged it off and waved happily instead of questioning it further. 

As she turned the street corner, she let down the floodgates and started crying.

 

_That could easily be the last time she would see ever see her parents. She might never see them again._

 

'Marinette! You're late.' 

 

Marinette wiped her face with one of her sleeves and turned around. 'Barely. Chat Noir, You're _early.'_ She shot him a half-hearted smile.

 

He shrugged. 'Ah. My watch is fast. Hey, are you alright?'

 

'I just-' 

Marinette slumped against the wall of the building behind her. 'I'm scared,' she whispered. 'What if-?'

 

'We're not going to die tonight.'

Chat Noir muttered something under his breath and, with a green flash, detransformed. He held a piece of cheese under his kwami's nose. 'Eat up, Plagg. You're going to need a lot of energy. Marinette, if things go to plan, we'll walk out of my house with his miraculous without a single bruise.'

 

'But- how will you go back to living there afterwards? And... what if things _don't_  go to plan?' 

 

Adrien took Marinette's hands in his own. 'Marinette. We will be okay. As long as we stick together, yeah?'

 

'And keep to your promise!' Tikki added, flying out of Marinette's purse and joining Plagg.

 

'What promise?' Adrien asked with a confused frown.

Marinette shrugged, glaring at Tikki. 'Uh, it doesn't matter. Just that... I should, like, not stand in your way, and stuff.'

 

Flying over to land on Adrien's shoulder, Plagg nodded. 'Just trust them, kid. Tikki knows what she's doing. Marinette, you should be careful tonight. If you don't trust Tikki, I'm telling you, someone could-'

 

'Someone could get hurt, I know.' Marinette folded her arms. 'I will follow your advice, even if it seems stupid.'

 

Adrien raised an eyebrow. 'Sorry, I'm lost.'

 

Plagg finished eating the cheese and tugged on the hem of Adrien's jacket. 'Forget about it, kid. We should probably go. Alya and Chloé are waiting for you guys, right?'

 

'Yeah. Okay. Plagg, if we don't see each other again after this-'

 

The cat kwami's face became panicked before he gave an annoyed scowl. 'Whatever. Save it.'

 

Even though he seemed not to care about what Adrien had to say, Marinette saw past that. She saw fear and sadness in the tiny god's face. 

 

'Plagg,' Adrien continued quietly. 'Thank you. If I don't walk out of there tonight, I want you to know that... I love you.'

 

Plagg sighed sadly and nodded. 'Yeah. Yeah, you're not bad either, kid.'

 

With a smile, Adrien said the words and transformed into Chat Noir.

Maybe for the last time.

 

 _No_. Marinette closed her eyes. _They were going to come out of this alive. Both of them._

Tikki tapped her cheek, and she opened her eyes again. 'Marinette. We should leave now. Are you going to transform?'

 

'Yes. Tikki, I love you. If we don't make it out of there-'

 

'You will.' The little red kwami looked uncertain and afraid. 

 

'I love you, Tikki. Thank you.'

 

'I love you too, Marinette. And I'm so proud of you- for everything. Now... go save the world.'

 

Marinette nodded, trying desperately to ignore the tears streaming down her cheeks. 'Tikki, spots on!'

 

***

 

The third floor of the abandoned building was dark and gloomy, but it had good views over the adjacent streets and met their needs perfectly. When Chat Noir and Ladybug arrived, Rena and Bee were already there. They stood on opposite sides of the room, completely ignoring each other's existence. 

'Guys! You're here!' Rena cried upon seeing them. 'Okay. Are you both ready?'

 

Chat nodded, and Ladybug did the same. _She doesn't look so sure,_ he speculated to himself, but said nothing. 

'We're ready. We'll enter through the front door without setting off the alarms, and find my father as quickly as possible. If things go to plan, we will convince him to give us the miraculous.'

 

'Otherwise, we're ready for some kind of physical combat. We can handle it,' Ladybug cut in. Chat resisted the urge to add a quiet _"probably"_ to her statement. 

 

'Okay. Good luck.' Rena Rouge crossed the empty room to hug them both.

 

Queen Bee followed awkwardly. 'Ladybug, I'm... sorry. Good luck.'

 

Ladybug seemed to think about it for a moment be for nodding. 'Thanks, Bee. We'll need it. Thank you.'

 

'And... Chat Noir?' Queen Bee said , and turned to face him. 'Come out alive.'

 

He nodded gravely. 'We will.'

 

_We'll try._

 

'We'll be here if you need us,' Rena whispered. Chat Noir blinked back his tears, and nodded again.

 

'Thank you,' Ladybug said. 'Both of you. Thank you. And if we don't come back-'

 

'Marinette. You're _going_  to come back.'

 

Ladybug smiled sadly. 'I love you, Alya. And I'll miss you. I know you don't want me to, but I _have_  to say goodbye. Just... Just in case.' Rena nodded once, and Ladybug turned to Queen Bee. 'Chloé, we've had our differences in the past, but I know you have a heart. And a good one, at that. And I trust you to protect Paris if we... if we don't return. Goodbye, you two. Goodbye.'

 

Bee nodded. 'Thank you. And... goodbye, Ladybug. Goodbye Chat Noir.'

 

He smiled and hugged her swiftly. 'Bye, Chloé. Bye, Alya. We'll be back.'

 

 _We'll try_.

 

 

'Goodbye,' Ladybug whispered once more, and left the room. Chat Noir nodded to the others and followed her out.

 

'Hey, Bug,' he said, walking quietly down the dark staircase. 'Hey, don't cry. We will survive.'

 

Ladybug smiled through her tears. 'We'll try.'

 

*** 

 

The Agreste household was dark and silent. There was an inexplicable tension in the air.

 

'He's expecting us,' Chat Noir whispered. 

 

'How? How is he always one step ahead?'

 

'I don't know. Ladybug- look.' He pointed towards the top of the staircase. Beneath the large portrait, Gabriel Agreste stood silently. Chat could see the green glow of his eyes reflected in his father's glasses. He held his baton up and in a defensive stance, twirling it to use it as a shield, and Ladybug did the same with her yoyo. _How?_  she thought. _How was he so calm and collected and prepared?_

 

 'Adrien. I see you found your little ring. How... disappointing.'

 

'Father. Give it up. We don't have to make a scene out of this. I don't want to fight you- but if I have to, I will.'

 

Gabriel gave a humourless laugh and shook his head, walking down a few steps before stopping.

 

'Do you really expect me to believe that you're going to fight me? You've only just left the _hospital,_ for goodness' sake. You barely know who you _are._ You're in no fit state for fighting.'

 

'Don't listen to him, Chat Noir!' 

Ladybug took a step forwards, swinging her yoyo furiously. She remembered her promise- _she shouldn't be protecting him._  He could look after himself.

 

'Ah, Ladybug. How very nice of you to look out for my son. Why don't you hand over those earrings of yours, hm? We could end this unnecessary violence right now.'

 

She laughed sharply. 'As if! You need to stand down, Gabriel.'

 

He shook his head sadly. 'Fine. Be like that, Ladybug. Or should I say... _Marinette Dupain-Cheng?_ Oh, no need to look so surprised. I've known for quite some time now.'

 

'So you know who I am, big deal. We're here for one reason- and you know exactly what it is!'

 

_'Nooroo, dark wings rise!'_

 

Chat Noir's eyes widened as Gabriel Agreste- _his father-_ transformed into Hawkmoth. 

'I didn't want to believe it,' he said tiredly. 'I didn't want it to be true. But- it is, of course it is. How could you? _How could you? I thought you loved me!'_

 

'I do. Don't you see, son? I'm doing this _because_  I love you. Together, we could have everything. Everything, Adrien! Join me, and we can bring your mother back.'

 

'How dare you?' Chat hissed, disgust tainting his expression. _'How dare you?_ This isn't what she would have wanted, and you know it! I can't _believe_ you. I will _never_ give you my miraculous. _Never!'_

 

The two superheroes gasped in horror as Hawkmoth suddenly drew a blade from his cane.

'I love you, Adrien. But not enough to let the two of you get in my way.'

 

The seconds after that were a blur. Hawkmoth was at the bottom of the stairs. He was lifting the blade and bringing it down towards Chat Noir's chest. Chat Noir froze, his body paralyzed in fear, his baton falling- almost in slow motion, hitting the floor with a crash- and he was defenceless. And suddenly there was regret in the villain's eyes and he wasn't going to do it- he wouldn't. He _couldn't._ He couldn't kill his own son.

 

But in the heat of the moment, in the blur and the panic, in the imminent threat of her partner's _death,_ Ladybug forgot her promise. Dropped her yoyo.

 

Leapt in front of Chat Noir. 

 

 _Oh,_  she thought as she glanced down at the blade piercing her chest. _I guess that's why Master Fu and Tikki told me not to protect Adrien._

And then the world went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...
> 
> I'm so sorry.


End file.
